North Fayette Valley’s Harris commits to Iowa

CEDAR RAPIDS - For those who doubt he'll really end up signing a national letter of intent with the Iowa Hawkeyes in a couple of years, Juan Harris has one thing to say

'What type of man would I be if I commit, then decommit?” the North Fayette Valley lineman said Monday night. 'I don't want people to question me if I'm a liar. I'm not a liar.”

Harris verbally committed to Iowa after receiving an offer Monday afternoon. The 6-foot-3, 365-pounder played just the final two games of NFV's Class 2A championship season because of eligibility issues but made a huge - pun intended - impact on both sides of the ball.

Harris grew up in Chicago and attended school briefly this fall in Janesville, Wis., before moving to West Union to live with his father, Juan Sr. He played on North Fayette Valley's junior varsity before the Iowa High School Athletic Association cleared him for varsity competition in time for NFV's semifinal playoff win over Dyersville Beckman.

He said the move to Iowa has been more than he could have imagined. Consider this a story akin to 'The Blind Side” movie.

'It's been fantastic,” Harris said. 'It was hard moving to a small town from a big city. It's not what I was used to. Not having much to do, smelling cow manure. But the people in West Union mean well, and that's fantastic.”

Harris will play defensive line in college. He also had offers from Wisconsin, Utah and Virginia, and Alabama coaches were at the UNI-Dome two weeks ago to watch NFV's championship game win over Sioux Center.

'Super kid,” said NFV Coach Bob Lape. 'He has size, speed, agility and explosivess, and at that size. I've never seen anything like it. He's still got two more years to develop, he's still baby faced. He's going to grow to be a man. He can write his own ticket.”

Harris said his relationship with Iowa's coaches, especially assistants Reese Morgan and Seth Wallce, was the biggest factor in his decision to commit. He said he appreciated Iowa sticking with him despite getting to play only two games this season.

He also didn't care about the Hawkeyes having a so-so 7-5 season, or the public negativity head coach Kirk Ferentz and his staff have received recently.

'I know the coaches at Iowa are going to make me a better player,” he said. 'But I also know they are going to make me a better human being, and that's more important to me. I want to be a better person more than I do a football player.”

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