IN a January 24, 2022 si.com article written by Nicholas Howard, a video was featured wherein New Zealand native Harrison “Harry” Young was surprised by his coaches and teammates with an athletic scholarship to play for the Texas Christian University (TCU) Horned Frogs.
The surprise was sprung during a flight to Ames, Iowa, to face the then No. 15 University of Iowa Hawkeyes.
As Howard of si.com writes, “Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.” Kevin Durant said this famous line circa 2013. It is safe to say that Harrison Young lives by this motto. After three years of working his tail off, Harrison was placed on scholarship in his senior year at TCU. Young stated, “The moment is so surreal still. I’m so glad to see my hard work and dedication pay off. It has made this journey worth so much more. It’s given me the best four years of my life.”
As the team was heading to Ames, Iowa to take on then #No. 5 Iowa State. The flight attendant on the plane played a prank on Harrison and then proceeded to announce he was on scholarship.
The whole team was cheering and hugging because they all believe he is such a good teammate, and they all knew he deserved it.
Harrison coming in as a freshman was a manager for TCU basketball. But that only lasted for two to three weeks. From then on, he was able to practice with team which ended up earning a walk-on spot on the team. Then from there, the rest is history.
Harry was my guest last week on “Sports For All” and his story reminded me of the film “Rudy” which was based on the true story of Rudy Ruettiger, a football walk-on on the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team who made the team by preparing his teammates for important games which endeared him to his brethren.
Like Young, Ruettiger was also given a well-deserved scholarship.
According to amp.star-telegram.com, TCU head coach Jamie Dixon stated the importance of Harry to the team, “But I was really proud how they handled the last four minutes because that was growing up and obviously we had a big lead and position to win the game. How we handled it with our walk-ons in there, with Harry [Young] in there, even that mattered to me. That was a good sign of us maturing.”
We can imagine Harry doing the same thing as what Rudy this with his coaches and teammates. Simulating opposing guards’ styles and pressuring his teammates from the backcourt to make them better and to prepare them for crucial games ahead.
Young endeared himself to his teammates because of his character, personality and work ethic which greatly contributed to the team’s success.
In the road game against the Hawkeyes, the Horned Frogs beat them by 20, holding the home team to a low percentage shooting from the field.
These same Horned Frogs also beat then #3 ranked and eventual National Champion University of Kansas at home last season.
Being either a basketball league or a team executive is in the cards for Harry and he’ll be a tremendous asset whichever organization hires him.
I’d like to acknowledge former FIBA sports agent Leanne Barrett for introducing us to Harry Young.