Newspaper Page Text
CO
SPORTS
7
INSIDE MOREHOUSE, OCTOBER 2009
NFL Prospect Ramon Harewood Excels in
the Classroom and on the Football Field
By ADD SEYMOUR JR.
The stern-faced men with the
Polo shirts that have NFL logos on
the chest have been constant visi
tors to the Morehouse football
offices in Gloster Hall Annex.
They’ve inquired about sever
al players, but one has been a
constant.
“Ramone Harewood,” said
Maroon Tigers head football coach
Rich Freeman. “Scouts from pretty
much every team have been at least
once to see him. He will be playing
on Sundays.”
Harewood is a hulking offen
sive lineman who stands 6’8” and
weighs 350 pounds. He anchors an
offensive line that has helped put
the Maroon Tigers amongst the
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference leaders in several team
offensive categories this season.
For someone who has been
playing football for only four years,
Harewood has come a long way -
literally and figuratively. He’s only
played football since coming to
Morehouse. Growing up in
Barbados, he was a rugby player.
“It’s a whole different culture.
A whole different experience from
America,” Harewood said. “It’s a
small country. But I played a lot of
sports growing up. I played rugby,
but also track and field, soccer and
cricket. That’s what pretty much
kept me busy and kept me out of
trouble.”
He also was a good student.
After his mother died, Harewood
was raised by his mother’s best
friend, whom he calls his aunt. She
is a professor in Barbados and
made sure Harewood studied as
much as he played sports.
But Morehouse never entered
his mind. Harewood had never
heard of the school, until a former
Maroon Tigers assistant coach saw
him in a high school track meet.
“He just told me, ‘If you’re try
ing to leave here and go play some
ball, give me a call,”’ Harewood
said. “I was not planning on call
ing him, but at the spur of the
moment in July, I called him. The
next January, I was enrolled at
Morehouse.”
Since then, Harewood has
excelled in the classroom and on
the football field. He is an engi
neering major with a 3.7 GPA. He’s
been an All-SIAC pick and has
been an honorable mention Player
of the Week.
NFL scouts love Harewood’s
size and foot speed. They also like
his intelligence and dedication to
his studies. In fact, Harewood
wants to be a civil engineer if a
professional football career doesn’t
work out.
“Where I’m from, education is
key,” he said. “If you don’t have an
education, you really can’t get any
thing. So I guess that’ been my
mentality from day one. So even
though I play sports, it’s never
really guaranteed. But once you’ve
got a degree you can go anywhere.”
Freeman is proud that
Harewood has not only become a
great football player, but someone
other players look up to.
“For a younger player seeing
that school is important [through
watching Harewood], that’s great
for our younger players,” Freeman
said. “He’s a great kid.” ■
Ramone Harewood
-2010 MOREHOUSE MAROON TIGERS BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
2i
Paine College
Miles College
LeMoyne Owen College
Kentucky State University
Lane College
Paine College
Stillman College
Tuskegee University
Clark Atlanta University
Albany State University
Forbes Arena 7:30 p.m.
Birmingham, Ala. 3 p.m.
Memphis, Tenn. 7:30 p.m.
Forbes Arena 7:30 p.m.
Forbes Arena 3 p.m.
Augusta, Ga. 7:30 p.m.
Tuscaloosa, Ala. 7:30 p.m.
Tuskegee, Ala. 3 p.m.
Forbes Arena 7:30 p.m.
Albany, Ga. 3 p.m.
Fort Valley State University
Benedict College
Claflin University
Fort Valley State University
Albany State University
Clark Atlanta University
Tuskegee University
LeMoyne Owen College
Benedict College
Lane College
Kentucky State University
Fort Valley, Ga.
7:30 p.m.
Columbia, S.C.
7:30 p.m.
Forbes Arena
3 p.m.
Forbes Arena
7:30 p.m.
Forbes Arena
7:30 p.m.
Atlanta, Ga.
2 p.m.
Forbes Arena
7:30 p.m.
Forbes Arena
7:30 p.m.
Forbes Arena
7:30 p.m.
Jackson, Tenn.
7:30 p.m.
Frankfort, Ky.
3 p.m.
University of West Georgia Forbes Arena
Talladega College Forbes Arena
7:30 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
Stillman College
Claflin University
Miles College
NOVEMBER
Forbes Arena
Orangesburg, S.C.
Forbes Arena
7:30 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
3 p.m.
Monday, 4
Saturday, 9
Monday, 11
Thursday, 14
Saturday, 16
Tuesday, 19
Thursday, 21
Saturday, 23
Thursday, 28
Saturday, 30
FEBRUARY
Tuesday, 2
Thursday, 4
Saturday, 6
Tuesday, 9
Thursday, 11
Saturday, 13
Monday, 15
Thursday, 18
Tuesday, 23
Thursday, 25
Saturday, 27
Wednesday, 18
Wednesday, 25
DECEMBER
Tuesday, 1
Thursday, 3
Saturday, 5
JANUARY
I MARCH
SIAC Tournament
*(home games in MAROON)
Abraham Kiprotich
Lessons in
Leadership
Point Cross
Country Team
Towards
Title Run
By ADD SEYMOUR JR.
The group of young men in
sweats and shorts surrounding
legendary cross country
coach Willie Hill at Edwin
Moses Track at B.T. Harvey
Stadium is learning a lot more
than running.
Hill is looking to teach his
team about life.
"What we're trying to do
is get the young men to under
stand how to be leaders and
how to get the job done,"
he said.
On many days, not only
does Southern Intercollegiate
Athletic Conference's top-
ranked squad talk about run
ning, but they also talk about
God, family and school, along
with issues in each young
man's life or other concerns.
"If it takes the whole prac
tice, so be it," Hill said.
It's a recipe for success that
Hill said strengthens each run
ner internally, which makes him
not only a better person, but a
stronger and smarter athlete.
The approach has been a
good one. The Maroon Tigers
won 13 consecutive SIAC titles
from 1995 through 2007. They
finished second in 2008, but
are looking to recapture their
championship form on Oct. 23
during the SIAC Conference
Championships.
Leading the way will be
seniors Abraham Kiprotich and
Noble Swint, though Hill said his
entire team is loaded with tal
ent And while they are shoot
ing for another SIAC title, Hill is
pointing to bigger things.
"When we go to Tampa
[for the NCAA Division II South
Regional Championships) that's
when it all counts," he said.
"That's when we've got to be
ready."