COLLEGE CAN WAIT
Crete-Monee’s Harry focused on senior season
Crete-Monee senior Deion Harry has a good reason why he hasn’t committed to a college.
And it’s not because of a lack of scholarship offers.
“The most important thing is I want to make sure I’m getting the best education possible,” Harry said. “I want to have a good bond between the coaches and players. I want to make the right decision. The next four years are what is going to prepare me for the rest of my life.”
Harry has received offers from Oregon State, New Mexico, North Dakota, Eastern Kentucky, Southern Illinois and Stephen F. Austin.
The 6-foot-5, 250-pound defensive end likely will wait until after the season to make a commitment. He has more pressing goals.
Among them is making certain Crete-Monee, ranked No. 8 in the preseason by the Daily Southtown, lives up to expectations.
“I want to concentrate on my senior season,” Harry said. “We have big goals we want to meet.”
Crete-Monee coach John Konecki said there’s a lot more to like about Harry than his imposing stature.
“He’s got a high football IQ and a great work ethic,” Konecki said. “Obviously, he’s very strong. He has good technique and he’s physical. He wants to be good.”
How much does Harry want it? A question he asked Konecki during the offseason provides the answer.
“Deion and a couple of other
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seniors came up to me and asked if they could get in the school at 5:30 a.m. to work out,” Konecki said. “There aren’t many kids eager to do that.”
One of the other seniors was fellow defensive end Dalen Brown (6-1, 215), who said there was a method to the early morning madness.
“We want to be in the best shape possible,” Brown said. “We want to be relentless. We want to wear out our opponent for the second half. It will make it that much easier for us.”
There’s nothing easy about the prospect of stopping Harry, according to Brown.
“He’s strong — too strong,” Brown said with a laugh. “He’s a great leader. He’s always telling me to keep it going and he keeps things positive.”
When Harry was in eighth grade, he played multiple positions for the University Park Lions youth football team.
At 5-11, Harry was an impact player at receiver, running back and on both sides of the line.
“I was very versatile,” Harry said. “I was a pretty good skill guy.”
Entering his freshman year, Harry hit a growth spurt.
He grew to 6-4. Along with the height, he added some weight.
His skill position days were over — but not his days of playing basketball. Harry is proud to be on track to play two sports for four years.
“I love basketball,” Harry said. “There was a time when I did consider to stop playing. But I talked to coach Konecki and he thought it would be good to play two sports. It definitely keeps in me in good condition.”
The Warriors, who were 8-2 last season, are in good position to claim their 12th consecutive conference championship.
Running back/linebacker Amari Venerable (5-11, 190) and receiver/defensive back Jamal Safo (5-10, 165), two-way lineman Jesus Ambriz (6-4, 280) and safety/receiver Ronald Carroll Jr. (6-0, 180) will play key roles.
Junior quarterback Trayvon Rudolph has the task of filling the shoes of three-year starter Isaiah Rucker.
“I like this group,” Konecki said. “We have some seniors and some good young kids. We just want to keep getting better every day.”