'08 KS WR/ATH Chris Harper (Oregon Verbal)

[johnnd05]

From the Observer:

"He's kind of a combo guy and the Irish have a shot," Frank said. "The problem they're going to run into is he also wants to play quarterback and Notre Dame is recruiting him as a wide receiver. So, that could be a little bit of a problem. ... They have to convince him that wide receiver is his future."

[johnnd05]

See the article below from the SB Tribune. This goes pretty strongly against what I said the other day about Harper not having a realistic shot at QB for ND - of course, all that matters is whether HE thinks he has a shot, though we certainly don't want another Jones-type situation on our hands where he'll transfer if Crist beats him out for the job. That said, he can't realistically think he'll supplant Clausen, so presumably we might have three years of him playing at WR (or LB?) before he wanted to play QB.

Anyway, the article indicates that his interest in us is VERY high right now ... man, if he has the right attitude, then he'd be a HUGE get ...

Jones' departure opens space for Harper

BOB WIENEKE
Tribune Staff Writer

Until a few weeks ago, Wichita (Kan.) Northwest High football coach Weston Schartz estimated that, on a scale of 1-10, Chris Harper's interest in Notre Dame was somewhere around a seven.

That, however, has changed for Harper, a standout athlete who could play quarterback or receiver in college.

"I think it's up much higher than that now," Schartz said Thursday.

With the departure of Demetrius Jones, Notre Dame's opening-day starting quarterback, and the earlier defection of Zach Frazer, ND's depth chart at quarterback is thinning.

Freshman Jimmy Clausen has established himself as the starter. Junior Evan Sharpley is the backup and senior Darrin Bragg, who had been a receiver and for a while left the team, is the de facto third-stringer.

Sharpley is a sophomore eligibility-wise and Bragg retains the possibility of a fifth year. Notre Dame has already received a verbal commitment for next year from California standout Dayne Crist, considered one of the top passing quarterbacks in the nation. But depth needs to be cemented.

"There's room where you could bring in another player," ND coach Charlie Weis said, "but you'd like that player to be able to play that position and to be able to play other positions as well."

Enter the 6-foot-3, 230-pound Harper, who will make an official visit to Notre Dame for this weekend's Michigan State game.

He's the starting quarterback at Wichita Northwest, but isn't considered a pure passing type. But it's also the position he'd like to get a shot at in college.

"He's not a pro-style quarterback that's going to drop back and throw 35, 40 times a game, but he's just a great athlete," Schartz said. "He could play receiver for anyone in the country. As a matter of fact, if he was playing receiver, I think he'd have 50 offers. But he doesn't play receiver."

There is, however, an asterisk with Harper.

"The only place he will consider, and maybe I'm talking out of turn here, but after my conversations, to play receiver at would be Notre Dame and the University of California," Schartz said. "And don't ask me why."

Because of Jones' departure, the Irish coaches have told Harper they are recruiting a quarterback who can play another position.

"All he wants is a shot, I think," Schartz said. "If it doesn't work out, he will get snaps as a freshman at receiver, he's that type of kid. I'm not kidding you. He can come in any place and play receiver."

Schartz said Harper is also involved with Illinois, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska and Texas A&M. USC, Miami and Florida were willing to offer him as a receiver, but not at quarterback.

At quarterback this season, Schartz estimated Harper has passed for 180 yards and two touchdowns, to go along with 360 rushing yards and five TDs.

Harper has been timed as low as 4.38 seconds in the 40-yard dash.

"He's legitimately fast, he can run," Schartz said, "and he's big."

And big would describe the impact the Notre Dame offer, which arrived two or three weeks ago, had at Northwest High.

"When you get offered by Notre Dame, you look," he said. "And that's what I told him. I said, look, this is like getting a date with Raquel Welch back in my day."

[johnnd05]

Via the Roundup:

Some thoughts on Chris Harper's recruitment

An interesting article in today's South Bend Tribune discusses the intriguing possibility that the departure of Demetrius Jones might give ND a better shot in their recruitment of Kansas QB/Athlete Chris Harper, listed as a four-star prospect on both Scout and Rivals, who will be an official visitor to South Bend this weekend for the Michigan State game. The article quotes Harper's high school coach, Weston Schartz, as saying that while Harper's interest in ND had previously been about a 7 on a scale of 1-10, "it's up much higher than that now."

The reason for this, of course, is that while Harper clearly has the ability to be a terrific wide receiver in college, he's made it clear that his real desire is to have a shot at quarterback - and ND's sudden lack of depth at this position clearly increases the odds that this might happen. Moreover, Charlie Weis said in a press conference earlier this week that he'd consider recruiting an extra QB in 2009, so long as it was someone who'd also be able to play at another position - a remark that seems clearly to apply to 2008 as well.

When this possibility first started being discussed, I wrote that in a way the Demetrius Jones situation could be viewed as a cautionary tale that would militate against recruiting Harper as a QB:

ND doesn't run an option offense, and with Clausen at the helm now and Crist coming on board next year it would take some serious self-deception for Harper to convince himself that he has a real shot at playing QB at ND. Such self-deception could, of course, be aided by the coaching staff if they wanted, but with the way the Jones situation panned out it's hard to imagine them leading a kid on when they know full well he'll end up unhappy.

This opinion squared with what Mike Frank was quoted as saying in an article on Harper in the Observer:

"He's kind of a combo guy and the Irish have a shot," Frank said. "The problem they're going to run into is he also wants to play quarterback and Notre Dame is recruiting him as a wide receiver. So, that could be a little bit of a problem. ... They have to convince him that wide receiver is his future."

My worry, in other words, was that if Harper was recruited as a possible quarterback, he might quickly be disappointed when he doesn't see the field in that capacity, which could lead to frustration and even a possible transfer. But the more I think and read about this, the more I think I was wrong.

Here's why: even if Weis and the rest of the coaching staff tell Harper that he has a shot to play quarterback, he has know fully well that he's not going to supplant Jimmy Clausen, and so that if he wants to have a chance to play during his first three years it will have to be somewhere else on the field. By all accounts he's more than capable of doing this as a wideout:

"He's not a pro-style quarterback that's going to drop back and throw 35, 40 times a game, but he's just a great athlete," Schartz said. "He could play receiver for anyone in the country. As a matter of fact, if he was playing receiver, I think he'd have 50 offers. But he doesn't play receiver."

This last sentence, though, comes with a big fat qualification:

"The only place he will consider, and maybe I'm talking out of turn here, but after my conversations, to play receiver at would be Notre Dame and the University of California," Schartz said. "And don't ask me why."

Because of Jones' departure, the Irish coaches have told Harper they are recruiting a quarterback who can play another position.

"All he wants is a shot, I think," Schartz said. "If it doesn't work out, he will get snaps as a freshman at receiver, he's that type of kid. I'm not kidding you. He can come in any place and play receiver."

In other words: it seems entirely possible that Harper might come to ND and play receiver for his first three years. At that point, with Clausen gone, he'd compete with Dane Crist and whomever else the Irish have recruited in the meantime to be the starting quarterback. If this doesn't work out, he could either go back to wide receiver or be the backup QB for a year (or two, if he redshirts).

Harper's situation is unlike Jones's in that Harper HAS said he's willing to play WR for the Irish, while Jones always insisted that he wouldn't. If Harper does just this for his first few years, obviously he wouldn't be able to transfer even if he doesn't succeed in the competition for the starting QB position. As I said, this possibility is intriguing, to say the very least ...

[KamaraPolice]

I say move Crist to TE. No, I'm kidding, but did you see him last night? Guys hit his shoulderpads and fell down. With Crist and Harper, the Irish would have two beasts competing at QB. Although Weis isn't going to run an offense where his football thrower is also going to be a football runner... he could very easily implement an offense that Crist could run, but that would work better for Harper.

The difference between Clausen and Jones was so much that the offenses had to be completely different. I think the difference between Crist and Harper could be just slight enough that using both could be viable.

But hey, what do I know? When the offense gets turned around, maybe the offense of the old does have a schematic advantage.

[GoshenGipper]

Chris said he had a fantastic visit to ND this past weekend and that his parents really liked what they saw and heard as well.

He aslo went on to mention that he was not swayed at all by the on field results, and that he wasn't disappointed by the game day atmosphere.

He hopes to make a choice soon after his last few remaining visits are finished, but if he had to name a top five right now that ND would definitely be on the list.

[johnnd05]

Great news - thanks!