It’s true in football that speed kills. As Mason Harris can attest, it also gets attention.
The Ridgeland rising senior defensive end needed 4.4 seconds Monday to go from a marginal Division I prospect to a bona fide Southeastern Conference recruit.
After running 40 yards in that time at the University of South Carolina combine, the 6-foot-3, 210-pounder was offered a scholarship on the spot. Harris, whose previous two offers were from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Middle Tennessee State, quickly said yes.
“That’s the best I’ve ever run, and after I did it, Coach (G.A.) Mangus walked over and said, ‘I want you.’ That’s all I had to hear,” Harris said. “I have always liked South Carolina, and the facilities they have now are unreal. That really got my attention.”
That and the unheard-of 4.4 40-yard dash for a defensive lineman. Harris, a two-year starter and two-time Times Free Press All-North Georgia selection, also turned heads with a 37 1/2-inch vertical jump. His athleticism helped make up for his lack of bulk.
“They said I was a little small but that with a little more weight I could play on rush downs, and if I can get up to 230, I could play every down,” said Harris, who recorded 12 sacks among his 70 tackles last year for the Region 6-AAA champions.
Ridgeland teammate Devin Bowman previously committed to Georgia, a Gamecocks rival in the SEC East.
Panthers coach Mark Mariakis said Harris is still learning as a lineman.
“As a freshman, we saw him as more of an outside linebacker, but as a sophomore he had gotten so tall and he has such long arms that we moved him to end,” Mariakis said. “He’s really taken to it, and with his athleticism — he’s so quick off the ball — even if he finds himself in a bad position, he’s athletic enough to get out of it.”
Harris said he will still take a couple of visits previously set up, including one to Kentucky and maybe one to Southern Mississippi. Like most recruits who commit early, he’s relieved to get the process over with.
“It’s funny. I was sitting around just last week and talking about how I would like to get an offer so I wouldn’t have to worry about it,” Harris said with a laugh. “This is a big weight off my shoulders.”