Spring Practice Dispatch No. 1 -- UConn WR Jackson Harper
It is February, and although that means it is basketball season in Connecticut, but spring football practice is right around the corner.
For many of the incoming freshmen in the Class of 2023, they have already enrolled early and are on campus getting ready to go.
Luckily The UConn Report was able to speak with one of those freshmen in wide receiver Jackson Harper to learn more about the conditioning program, his transition from Avon Old Farms Schools to the collegiate level and his recruitment overall.
Harper committed back in June of 2022, prior to his senior year at Avon Old Farms, playing under HC Jon Wholley who is pretty well known as a former UConn running back.
Switching back to Harper, he had a distinguished career with the Winged Beavers, culminating in winning Founder's League Player of the Year this past season, along with 1st team All-League honors. He chose the Huskies over offers from Army, Air Force, and several FCS programs including Colgate, Cornell, Harvard, and Yale.
His recruitment began after attending Junior Day in Storrs, and he mentioned loving the energy the coaches had, along with the facilities. He will be joining the Huskies as a wide receiver and he is excited about the plans the coaches have for him in the offense.
Harper will be very familiar with at least two of the guys throwing him the ball, in former teammate and current Husky Tyler Phommachanh and incoming freshman Tucker McDonald.
Harper and McDonald played 7on7 ball together and also trained togther with another former UConn running back n "Stack" Williams over at Supreme Athlete.
Harper and the rest of the Huskies have been hard at work over the winter preparing for spring practice. A date hasn't been announced for the start of practice, but it typically begins in early-mid March.
Until then, the players are at the mercy of strength and conditioning coach Matt King.
"It's been great so far," Harper said. "We've been training real hard with Coach King and Coach Bynum (asst S&C coach). The competition every day is making everyone better and the energy every day is super high."
Unlike many of us out there, Harper and the other freshmen are not only enrolling in school early and learning what college is all about, they're also following an FBS athlete schedule. The transition hasn't fazed Harper. "It's been easier than expected. Being at Avon Old Farms prepared me for living in the dorms, being away from my family, and the overall experience of living at school." As for the football side, Avon Old Farms has been one of the better prep schools in New England, and part of the reason is the way Coach Wholley runs his program. "He did a great job training us like we were college athletes. So the transition from high school to college in the weight room has been a lot more steady because of the coaches I had."
Stay tuned to the UConn Report for more stories from the spring semester as the Huskies look to improve on last season's 6-7 record.
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