Harmon Motivated To Build On His Success
For Kelvin Harmon, his college career at NC State is a convolution of many things. The result has been a wonderful experience that he hopes will continue to bring he and his team success.
Harmon has the potential to be one of the great receivers in program history.
NC State has only had four players finish with more than 1,000 yards receiving in a season and the rising junior from Palmyra, New Jersey is one of them. The other three -- Torry Holt, Jerricho Cotchery and Koren Robinson -- each are more known as NFL players and that is a likely destination for Harmon at some point.
He is not a lone wolf.
Stephen Louis, the reciprent of the number one jersey in 2018, along with the still-emerging Jakobi Meyers will give NC State three weapons for Ryan Finley -- a quarterback who elected to wait for potential NFL riches to return to NC State and continue his climb up the ladder among Wolfpack greats.
The journey at NC State enters its third year for Harmon. His skill is a blessing but there is more work to do, both individually and collectively with his team.
“I think I just have a God-given talent for getting the ball and then I work on it as well,” Harmon said. “Contested catches on the jugs during the offseason, me and Steph [Louis] come in here, we try to make catches on each other where we are pulling each other’s arms down. It is an intense concentration.”
“I think it was my ability to make a play on the ball in crucial moments,” Harmon said of his becoming the fourth player in NC State history to surpass 1,000 yards receiving in a season in 2017. “The thing about going up for the ball is to just try to make the play. I just was playing hard.”
The Wolfpack did lose a lot of talenty from the 2017 squad, including skill players Jaylen Samuels and Nyheim Hines on offense. The duo was among several NC State players that participated for NFL personnel at the team’s pro day along with the league’s combine.
Harmon took notice and was enthralled with the prospects for many of his former teammates. It is a road he also hopes to travel.
“It is definitely motivation seeing a lot of our guys in the combine this year,” Harmon said. “If you take of what you have to take care of, you are going to have the opportunity too -- which is good. The offense and the system, it is a very good system that helps us on the weight room, on the field and that is helping us for the level. It is motivating to see those guys have success.”
One player who was not vying for attention among NFL executives at NC State’s Pro Day was Finley, who elected to return to school for his final season of eligibility.
In Finley, the Wolfpack has a quarterback that threw for 3,518 yards in 2017 (fourth-best in school history) and has the fifth-most passing yards ever at NC State.
While Harmon would never begrudge Finley if he elected to forgo his final season at NC State he is geeked that he and his teammates have one of the top signal callers in the nation delivering them the ball in 2018.
"Obviously, I wanted him to come back but I am also a friend to him too,” Harmon said of Finley. “I just want him to do the best thing he can do. If he stayed I am 100 percent with him and if he went I am 100 percent with him. He made the best decision for him and it worked out in our favor.
“I was excited just knowing that we are going to be back for a third year -- me, him, Steph and Jakobi.”
The excitement extends to the remainder of the team. Harmon is not backing down from anyone in 2018. His junior season is the next step of his journey at NC State after migrating south following high school. He has no regrets.
Look for Harmon and the Wolfpack to take a day-to-day approach over the spring and summer, not in rebuilding or maintaining the status quo but in fulfilling a goal of moving towards elite company.
“It has been a great experience,” Harmon said at the halfway point of his eligibility. “The coaches are a little different that up north but being around guys like Steph, Dex [Wright] and Shawn Boone really helped me get adapted to the coaches. It has been a great experience down here.
“I definitely feel like we are capable of controlling our own destiny again. It is just a matter of our motto, taking it one game at a time, but I feel like we can beat everybody on the schedule.”
