Zebras' Harris to play football for Mizzou

Pine Bluff High Zebra senior Jordon Harris smiles with his family Wednesday as he prepares to sign a national letter of intent to play football for the University of Missouri Tigers. (Pine Bluff Commercial/Suzi Parker)
Pine Bluff High Zebra senior Jordon Harris smiles with his family Wednesday as he prepares to sign a national letter of intent to play football for the University of Missouri Tigers. (Pine Bluff Commercial/Suzi Parker)


Jordon Harris has a loyal fan club.

And they showed up Wednesday afternoon with cake, balloons and swag made by Zebra football players' mothers to celebrate him.

The 6-foot-6-inch tall Pine Bluff High School senior signed a national letter of intent Wednesday in the high school's student activities center to play football for the University of Missouri Tigers.

Harris, who has a 4.0 GPA and the high school's highest student athlete ACT score, had a dream when he started playing football this season -- the first time he's played since he was a sixth-grader.

Sure, he could have focused on basketball, the sport he has played since ninth grade. But he didn't.

"Basketball recruitment wasn't high," Harris said. "I could play football and get recruited, I hoped."

His plan -- playing football for only one season and receiving multiple college offers -- worked to perfection.

Harris, a skilled and tough basketball player, talked to Zebras football Coach Micheal Williams, who was in his first season at the high school, and told him his plan. Harris also really wanted to be recruited to take care of his mom in the future. Harris had Williams' attention when he said the word "mom."

"He become a project," Williams said. "I said, I've got to make this happen. This made me stay up late getting him recruited. He would tell me he started football late. I'd say, 'You started right on time.'"

Out of the gate in the first Zebra game of the season against Little Rock Central High School, Harris stiff-armed a player to score a touchdown. That touchdown, the first of two in that game, set Harris up to be recruited hard, Williams said.

"It showed his versatility and that Harris could run," Williams said.

Zebra basketball Coach Billy Dixon, who has coached Harris since ninth grade, said that touchdown will always stand out to him.

"He's a phenomenal young man," Dixon said. "That one play, that first touchdown when he ran up the field with that six-foot-six frame, showed how athletic he is and started the recruiting frenzy."

When Harris wasn't on the field and hitting the books, he was studying football. He met with Williams often to discuss strategy. He became a student of football. He read plays. He watched films.

"He studied football like it was a test," Williams said.

Harris, a Zebra 5A all-conference player, was recruited by Vanderbilt University, University of California Los Angeles, University of Memphis, the Air Force Academy, University of Louisiana at Monroe and Alcorn State, to name only a few.

For his first and only high school football season, Harris, the son of Latrice Shelton and Samuel Harris, had stats that would make any recruiter say wow.

On defense, Harris had 18 tackles, 12 of them solo, seven sacks and seven tackles for a loss. Harris also had five interceptions with four converted into touchdowns. On offense, he made five catches for 126 yards with four touchdowns, averaging 25.2 yards per catch.

The Zebra's defensive coach, Brian Eaton, arrived in Pine Bluff this summer soon after Williams was hired. He said he knew nothing about Harris, but the senior learned quickly.

"He took on the challenge," Eaton said. "He learned his tools. He got the craft."

Eaton looked at Harris and said, "When you get to Missouri, it will be tough. Adversity makes you better. Your success will be their success."

Cheryl Hatley, director of student support services, said Harris' move to football was savvy.

"He didn't put all of his eggs into one basket," Hatley said.

For all of the attention, Harris is not the type of player to brag about any of his accomplishments. The shy senior said he felt blessed to be able to go to Missouri because one of his brothers is only two hours away, so he will still have a close connection to home. He also liked the Tigers coaches' philosophy about football and life balance, he said.

Harris may not brag, but those who know him do it for him. One after another of his teammates, former coaches and other players' parents called him humble, inspirational, delightful, quiet and respectful. The words made Harris cry.

"He earned it," Williams said. "All of it. He could have gone to school on academics, but he wanted to live his dream and he is going to do that."

While the focus Wednesday may have been on football for Harris, it's also about earning a degree. He said he has already talked to an adviser at Missouri about the classes he will need to become an industrial engineer.

For younger Pine Bluff students who look up to Harris as a player and wonder if they can be like him, he says yes. But a player has to study first then play, he said.

"School is important," Harris said. "If you keep your grades up, you can go a long way."


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