Hardy wants to carry the rock

New Haven, Mich., athlete Nate Hardy is a solid athlete that could program at a number different positions, but if you ask him he wants the ball in his hands as much as possible.

"I feel like I can cut back and forth across the field like Reggie Bush," Hardy, who is 5-foot-9 and 164 pounds, said. "Individually I would have said lifting weights but now I'm bench pressing 255 pounds, so I'm pretty happy with that now."

In 2006, he had 42 tackles from his cornerback position and was rarely challenged in the air. On offense he rushed for 1,154 yards on 69 carries and caught 22 passes for 432 yards He found the end zone 13 times for the Rockets. For his efforts, Hardy was named first-team all-Macomb County, first-team all-metro East and Class C all-state.

He's still searching for his first official offer, but there are plenty of interested schools.

"Cincinnati, Western Michigan and Central Michigan are the ones showing me the most attention," he said. "I got invited to Akron's Camp, Michigan State's camp and Eastern Michigan's camp. Eastern said if I do well they're going to offer me."

So what will Hardy be looking for in the perfect school?

"I'm not looking for anything particular," he said. "I just want to find a school that fits me."

In the mean time, Hardy has big expectations for the 2007 season.

"It's looking good," he said. "We've got three D-I prospects so we should do well this year. We're still looking for a quarterback right now, though."