Troy proves the right fit for Harris

TROY — DuJuan Harris was set to sign with Florida A&M last year, but in no way was he excited about it.

Good thing for him — and for Troy — that the Trojans came calling shortly after his official visit to FAMU and about a week before National Signing Day in 2007.

“I really didn’t want to go to FAMU,” said Harris, a sophomore who ran for 148 yards and scored three times in Troy’s season-opening 31-17 win over Middle Tennessee last week.

“I didn’t even buy any apparel on my visit. I didn’t want to go back to my school wearing FAMU stuff.”

Despite a career with more than 3,000 yards rushing in Brooksville, Fla., and 45 touchdowns, with a 363-yard game sprinkled in, Harris wasn’t getting any recruiting interest — except from FAMU, in Tallahassee.

But one quick look at the dorms there soured him.

“It was bad,” Harris said. “It was terrible. I could not live there. They said all freshmen had to live there.

“I asked where the bathroom was and they said down the hall. Community bathroom, community shower. I’d have to take a shower in this every night?”

So he quizzed an FAMU assistant, the one who was recruiting Harris.

“I already knew how the dorms were, but I just asked him about them,” Harris said. “He just said ‘I don’t know.’ He skipped the whole question.”
It didn’t stop there. A small weight room and terrible field conditions didn’t spark enthusiasm, either.

“They said they were going to add more to the weight room and field looked like that because it wasn’t in season,” Harris said.

“I think they had more equipment in my high school weight room. I knew that wasn’t a place that was going to help me get to where I wanted to be. I didn’t want to take turns bench pressing.”

But whatever it was, it was enough to get Harris to pledge a verbal commitment to the Rattlers, one he said he gave because he didn’t want to be without a place to go.

Lucky for him, and for Troy, then-offensive coordinator Tony Franklin came calling after he got back.

As it turns out, Troy didn’t know about Harris until a few weeks before Signing Day because his tape was sent out late.

But Harris, who knew nothing about Troy before his visit, was so enamored that he committed to head coach Larry Blakeney at the hotel about four hours after he got there.

And the only dormitory he had seen was Dill Hall.

“And, Dill was old,” Harris said. “It just felt right. I knew that I could at least probably keep my room clean at Dill.

“I thought it was a better opportunity. I knew they had a lot of running backs coming in, but I just told myself not to worry about it and come in and show what I could do.”

But Harris is the only running back standing from the class of 2007, as some didn’t qualify and others left the program. He played in all 12 games last year and ran for 372 yards.

This year, he’s bigger. Don’t let his size fool you — the 5-foot-7 Harris is now a stout 190 pounds, as evidenced by his running through the MTSU defense last week.

“I may be short, but I’m not little,” Harris said. “I’m 5-7, with a helmet I’m probably like 5-9. With cleats I’m probably 5-10.

“I’ve got to run north, and to run north you’ve got to take a pounding, so I had to bulk up my shoulders a little bit.”

And with his performance against MTSU, more people know about Troy’s rushing attack. And with more performances like that, they might wish he had stuck with his commitment to FAMU.

“I’m putting it behind me,” Harris said. “One game isn’t going to get me where I want to be. I just keep it in mind that I had a good debut. I’ve got the coaches’ trust and they believe I can get the job done.”