Sometimes all it takes is a bit of good news to turn things around.
It wasn't long ago that Mason Harris was unsure about his future. The Ridgeland High School senior defensive end always had thought football would be his route to a college education, but as his junior year wound down, the 6-foot-3, 210-pounder was still waiting on his first Division I offer.
He had been to camps where the news always seemed the same: We love your athleticism, but you're too small to be a lineman and we don't know if you can play linebacker. Then came a trip to South Carolina, where Harris, who sensed his opportunities to get an early offer were dwindling, put together a memorable workout for Gamecocks coaches, including a timed 40-yard sprint of 4.4 seconds.
An offer immediately followed and it didn't take long for Harris to say yes. That afternoon, he says, changed his life.
"I gave up on myself not long ago, but now I do all my work and I think I've become a more all-round football player since I committed," said Harris, a two-time Best of Preps all-star who has more than 30 tackles for loss the past two seasons. "I should have already become that, but it has made me work harder. I told myself that when I finally do get my scholarship, I'm going to play as hard as I can and not take it easy.
"That's what I'm going to do."
It couldn't come at a better time for the Panthers, who will rely on Harris to play both sides of the ball this year for the first time. Ridgeland coach Mark Mariakis believes his star is ready for the challenge.
"Mason has made himself into a good player," Mariakis said. "His body has changed over the past four years. He's put weight on and gotten stronger. Whether he's playing on the offensive line or defensive line, he's going to shine. And he's only going to get better.
"I think he's still two years away from being as good as he can be. He's going to get bigger. I compare him to (former Ridgeland defensive end) Nigel Nicholas, but at this point of his career he's making more plays than Nigel, and Nigel started at Oklahoma State last year."
Since Harris's sizzling workout at South Carolina, other programs have taken notice. Kentucky remains interested, and Harris will take a visit there this fall and isn't ruling out a switch to the Wildcats.
"I've got an offer from Kentucky, so I am going to visit," he said. "I'll go to South Carolina also, and MTSU. I'm pretty solid with South Carolina. Kentucky showed me a lot of interest, so that's why I told them I would visit. It's really between those two."