At a recent afternoon scrimmage, Emily Harmon
(Pickerington Central/Pickerington, Ohio) stopped by with her family and her high
school coach to take in the festivities, seeing what being a Bearcat is all
about. Standing around 6-1, the young combo forward was taking in the first of
what are sure to be a seemingly unending string of college visitations (both
official and unofficial).
While few can imagine just how dauntingly
overwhelming the recruiting process can be to even the most mature of high
school seniors, attempting to envision what it would be like as a sophomore must
be unfathomable. However, that is just the case for this young lady, who really
came on toward the end of last season for the Tigers, helping them to a Regional
Championship and a trip to the D-I state semifinals. This mature young athlete
is only 16 years old and has already received at least some interest from
schools such as Ohio State, Notre Dame, Duke and others, in
addition to the Bearcats. However, the teenager seems excited for the process -
especially because she has a solid support team around her making the transition
from adolescent to highly coveted college athlete that much easier. Coming from
a high school program with a lot of tradition both in terms of winning games and
sending players to the college ranks, Harmon seems to have the situation well
under wraps already - even though the process is sure to pick up over the next
two years.
However, when that time comes Harmon will have to
look no further then Cincinnati for a little friendly advice about dealing with
the process because former high-school teammate and current Bearcat Stephanie Stevens is ready and willing to help her through the process. Hopefully, Harmon
will turn to Stevens not only for information about being recruited but also
about the caliber of the University of Cincinnati. While having Stevens on the
roster will certainly be a feather in the recruiting cap of Coach Pirtle and
assistant Dave Walker (UC recruiting coordinator), from the early interest that
Harmon appears to be garnering from national powerhouses the Bearcats seem like
they still have a lot of work to do over the next two-plus years.