Speedy South Carolina freshman phenom Nyck Harbor tries to catch up to the hype

The mythology surrounding South Carolina freshman Nyckoles Harbor is almost bigger than the man himself.

Before he ever stepped foot on campus, fans, peers and pundits crowned Harbor with labels like “freak of nature” and “generational talent.” The 18-year-old is described more like a science experiment than an athlete — the perfect combination of size and speed.

Harbor’s a hulking 6-foot-5, 241-pound specimen who can run a 10.32 second 100-meter dash, and he ranked as a five-star recruit and No. 1 athlete in the country before choosing USC.

When Harbor picked the Gamecocks in February, it seemed like all of Columbia rejoiced.

“It resonated with people all over,” USC head coach Shane Beamer said. “This guy could have gone anywhere in the country and chose to come to the University of South Carolina.”

Now that he’s here — and football season is days away — Harbor is tasked with somehow trying to live up to the monumental excitement that preceded his arrival. It’s a journey that will require patience.

What makes the hype around Harbor so unique is that there’s a sense of mystery attached to it. A two-sport star in football and track and field at Archbishop Carroll High in Washington, D.C., Harbor brings a rawness that isn’t typical of a five-star prospect. One of the most pertinent questions about Harbor throughout the recruiting process was what position he’d play in college.

He played on both defense and offense in high school. Some schools recruited him as an edge rusher. Other schools recruited him as a tight end. The Gamecocks will try to utilize his size and speed at wide receiver — a position that requires more nuance than simply running faster than everyone else. He’ll also compete for the track team in the spring.

Harbor knows he has work to do, and it’s work he’ll have to do in the spotlight, facing similar pressures that other high-profile USC athletes like Spencer Rattler and GG Jackson faced before him.

Despite his stature, Harbor maintains he’s just a normal 18-year-old kid off the field and doesn’t want to see himself as “some larger-than-life superstar.” He has the same message for Gamecocks fans.

“Don’t expect a lot,” Harbor said, before cracking a smile. “But don’t expect too little.”

Learning the ropes

USC position coaches could’ve had a fight on their hands when Harbor stepped on campus.

Defensive end/linebackers coach Sterling Lucas, tight ends coach Jody Wright and receivers coach Justin Stepp all could’ve staked a claim on Harbor, but the decision was taken out of their hands.

Beamer announced Harbor would be a receiver the day he signed.

“Heck, that one just kind of fell in my lap,” Stepp said of landing Harbor in his receiving room. “But he’s been awesome.”

Barring health, Stepp and the Gamecocks have the benefit of possessing a well-stocked receiving corps in 2023. Though he’s battling through a lower-body injury, last year’s top receiver Antwane “Juice” Wells will return to lead the unit and will be joined by fellow returnees Xavier Legette and Ahmarean Brown.

As such, Harbor doesn’t need to contribute on the field right away. He and Stepp have time to work together in the lab and refine his skill set.

It also helps that Harbor isn’t the first track athlete Stepp has worked with at receiver. At previous coaching stops, Stepp has worked with dual-sport athletes Courtland Sutton at SMU and Treylon Burks at Arkansas, helping both players on their paths to the NFL. Sutton has carved out a career as the starting X receiver for the Denver Broncos, and the Tennessee Titans drafted Burks in the first round last summer.

“Both of those guys were bigger, faster guys,” Stepp said. “So a lot of stuff I used with those guys should help translate with Nyck, too.

“But, I mean, Nyck is a whole other level of fast. So it’s been fun to kind of tweak some things that I’ve done in the past. And he’s making me a better coach, too.”

As one would expect, there have been growing pains. The summer workouts were particularly grueling, Harbor said, especially fresh off of his high school track season and with more weightlifting than he’s used to.

Most of his learning has been between the ears — absorbing a college playbook, studying different routes, reading defenses and coverages.

“When I was playing D-end, there was only really one thing: either reading the tackle, the guard, reading the quarterback,” Harbor said. “Now you’ve gotta be reading the coverages and stuff, so you got to play with your eyes.”

For the time being, Harbor is putting 100% of his focus into football, but his attention will shift to track and field in the spring as he works with new USC coach Tim Hall. Harbor said there was never any doubt he would run track at whichever college he ended up at, especially considering 2024 is an Olympic year.

He is that talented of a runner.

“One of my goals is to win a gold medal in the Olympics — at least a medal in the Olympics,” Harbor said. “It’s finally here.”

Adjusting to Columbia

It’s not all about wins and losses for Harbor. Clearly.

Last September, Harbor happened to pick one of USC’s worst football games of the season for the site of his official visit. The Gamecocks lost to Georgia 48-7, and Beamer lost his temper after the game when asked by a reporter if he “sensed any quit” in his Gamecocks.

But — blowout loss aside — the Gamecocks didn’t lose Harbor. Rather, they increased his interest in the program with the way they still showed him love after a tough game. Beamer has prided himself on creating a family type of atmosphere since he arrived in Columbia three years ago, and Harbor is still feeling the love.

“I can’t wait to spend my college career here because like with the coaching staff, things have just gotten better,” Harbor said. “Nothing’s changed. Nobody changed. I feel just like the relationships and everything just improved. And I feel like that’s how it’s gonna be for like every person that’s in South Carolina now. They don’t show fake love.”

Since Harbor has been on campus, Beamer has felt the love from him, too. Beamer describes Harbor as a “fantastic young man” who has approached his offseason work with a businesslike approach. Despite his youth, Harbor isn’t afraid to speak his mind, and he’s got a knack for critiquing Beamer’s outfits — especially his shoes.

“You can’t be having those loafers on with 17- to 18-year-old kids,” Harbor said, laughing. “You gotta get some Jordans and stuff like that. That’s what we want to see. We don’t wanna see the loafers.”

Given his track background, Harbor receives frequent requests from his teammates to race, and his older teammates will usually call him “slow” or pick on him in other ways. Harbor is all for the camaraderie and has gotten especially close with the rest of the freshman class.

“(Harbor is) a great dude out of the classroom,” fellow freshman Tree Babalade said. “And as a footballer, he’s a freak of nature. It’s good. We’re best buds, the whole freshman class, so it’s just like a blessing.”

The hype around Harbor’s signing will gradually fizzle, especially if the Gamecocks continue to pull in other five-star talents like five-star defensive edge Dylan Stewart in August.

But Harbor is ready to put the hoopla and expectations behind him. He has a new position to learn and master.

“I came here to play football,” Harbor said. “I came here to make plays.

“I felt the pressure at the beginning, but like now you just gotta throw the pressure away. You just gotta play your game. You just gotta be yourself.”