Harper Sherman had a dream of one day being a Division 1 football player.
Last weekend, the top five-star Canadian prospect made it a reality.
Sherman verbally committed to the Pac-12 University of Arizona Wildcats while on a NCAA visit to the Tucson campus for the opening of the varsity team’s fall camp last weekend.
“I feel great and really excited about going down there and playing at the Division 1 level,” said Sherman. “It was just a confirmation of all the research we had done. It was just the right fit.”
Sherman is the No. 1 rated Canadian offensive lineman and the third overall player, according to national pollsters. He was also Arizona’s top recruit on the O line.
The 6-4, 270-pound senior lineman also received Div. 1 offers from seven other Div. 1 schools, including Washington State, Cal-Berkeley and Oregon State.
Sherman received his first offer from the University of Nevada as a junior. He also received offers from Wyoming, San Diego State and the University of Texas-El Paso.
“I had this dream of being a Div. 1 football player,” said Sherman. “But I have to keep pushing forward and putting in the hard work. It’s what it takes to be at this high level.”
For New Westminster Hyacks high school head coach Farhan Lalji, the news of Sherman’s commitment was equally satisfying.
“I’m really proud of him and how hard he’s worked over the last three years,” said Lalji. “In Grade 9, we sat down with his parents and put a plan together. It was neat to see it all come together. It happened because he hit everything out of the park.
“This kid works hard. If you tell him he needs to work four times a week, he’ll work five. You want to help kids like that. He earned it, he earned it.”
