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Harper not in a hurry
Stockton (Calif.) St. Mary's receiver Joshua Harper first emerged on the scene last spring when he won the most valuable player award for receivers at the Palo Alto NIKE Camp. He then went out as a junior and had 67 catches for 1,024 yards, more than 1,600 yards and 13 touchdowns in 12 games.
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It was enough to spark an early offer from Nevada. That offer was quickly followed by an offer from Oregon.
"I think I'm real versatile," Harper, who is 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds, said. "I can do a lot of different things on the field. I'm smart, and I have good vision, too. But mostly I like to compete. I compete in everything – even in video games."
Harper said the drive to be the best comes from being around his family. He's had four brothers that have played college football at San Jose State, Cal Poly and Oregon. His father played at Nebraska and for the San Francisco 49ers.
Having had family members go through the recruiting process already definitely is a big deal for Harper.
"I hear advice from them all the time," Harper said. "They tell me to wait it out and take the best option. They want me to wait until I find the right fit."
Harper does have an idea what that right fit will have.
"I really want to play in a pro-style offense," he said. "I want to also play. I really want to play. I want to compete. I want to also be in broadcast journalism. I want to be around sports all the time, and that sounds like an exciting career."
Harper said the early offers were really exciting, especially the Oregon offer.
"It was exciting to get my first offer from a big Pac 10 school," Harper said. "My brother, Matthew, is up there still. I think they're going to keep the same style of offense now that they have a new coach. I play in that style of offense now, so it'd be a good fit."
Oregon and Nevada aren't the only interested schools. He's talked to Tennessee, UCLA and he just returned recently from Cal's "Junior Day."
"It was exciting and everything was really nice," he said. "I talked to the receiver coach, and he told me about how I would fit into their offense. I know DeSean Jackson came from that school and played in that same offense, so I know I could fit right in.
"However, I'm not going to rush this. I want to find the right fit. I'm going to take my time."
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