Harper shows his quarterback skills

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Wichita Northwest's Chris Harper has plenty of options in terms of positions at the next level. At Saturday's NIKE Training Camp at the University of Missouri, he was looking to get in some work at the quarterback spot.

The 6-foot-2, 225-pound athlete has several scholarship offers from schools such as California, Illinois, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, and Texas A&M. A few schools have said they'll give him a chance at quarterback. Harper says he was just looking to show everyone that he had the ability as a signal caller.

"I was just trying to go out and show the schools recruiting me as a quarterback/receiver that I could do that," Harper said. "Coming out here, it showed me that I can get better and there is still stuff to work on. The first half I didn't do well, but I got better.

"Some of the drills out here, I hadn't ever done. So, I was a little nervous in the beginning."

Harper says that Illinois, who recently offered him a few days ago, along with Kansas State and Missouri have all talked about giving him a shot at the quarterback position.

"What Missouri said was that they would try me as a quarterback or a receiver," Harper said. "Then K-State and Illinois said the same thing."

Kansas State was one school that held the lead for the Kansas prospect. At Saturday's camp, he says things are evening up in terms of favorites.

"I want to have a top five by the end of the summer," Harper said. "Then I want to take my five official visits before I decide. I'm going to go on some unofficial visits this summer and then I'll narrow it down.

"I'm planning on going to a lot of schools. Michigan, Illinois, Florida, probably Florida State, and some others are ones I'll go to. Michigan said they were going to offer and that they would send an offer too."

Regardless of which position he plays, there are other factors that Harper is looking at before choosing a school.

"Academics is a pretty big deal to me," Harper said. "The school I pick doesn't have to be a big program, but one that is getting better and moving up."