It is just added some more Division I offers and several pounds of muscle to the rising junior for the Whippets.
That is why Harmon is the first player in The Star Herald Top 11 Players to Watch for the upcoming football season.
As Harmon continues to mature physically, the offers keep coming. Since being offered by Mississippi State as a freshman, Harmon now has offers from Ole Miss, Southern Miss, LSU, Georgia, Tulane and Virginia. Kosciusko coach Kelly Causey said Alabama is also interested and head coach Nick Saban flew in for a practice this spring.
But none of that seems to faze Harmon.
“He doesn’t seem to be overwhelmed by it,” Kosciusko Coach Kelly Causey said.
“He seems to be enjoying it. They have tried to pressure him to commit, but he’s just not going to. He’s just enjoying it right now. He’s just going to be a junior, so he has a little while to make his decision with his family,” the coach said. “I think if I was in his shoes and Georgia and LSU were recruiting me, I would be overwhelmed. But he has taken it in stride and has been handling it well.”
After mainly being an offensive player as a freshman, Harmon played both sides of the ball as a sophomore. On offense, Harmon had 18 catches for 455 yards — an average of 41.4 yards a catch with a long of 91 yards to go along with five touchdowns. On defense, Harmon had 36 tackles, four fumble recoveries and one interception.
“He had a great year,” Causey said. “We didn’t get him the ball as much as we should have. He is definitely one of the top five athletes that I have coached in my 25 years of coaching. He is an extremely hard worker and definitely a leader for our team. We are expecting a lot of big things from him this year.”
Causey said Harmon had a particularly good year on defense.
“He was real good on defense,” Causey said. “As a matter of fact, the University of Alabama really liked him on the defensive side of the ball. We played him at safety and being 6’4”, 200 pounds over there, he is a very solid tackler. That’s what Coach (Nick) Saban wants over there — solid tacklers. That’s what they have said about him.”
While Harmon only had 18 catches last season, that number should go up significantly as the Whippets ditch the flex-bone offense of last year in favor of the spread.
“We are going to the spread and he should have a bigger role in that,” Causey said. “He is going to be our main receiver out of that. We are going to have the capability of giving him the ball on some running plays. We are going to get the ball in his hands and move him around.”
Causey said other players will contribute, as well.
“We have some other athletes to go with him so folks can’t just focus on him. We have got some weapons, we just have to get the ball to him,” he said. “You are going to have to think hard before you go man on us.”
Harmon said he made all A’s and B’s this past year in the classroom and is scheduled to take the ACT this summer.
Causey said when college coaches call about Harmon, they all want to know his character. The veteran coach says he shares the same story with all of them.
“They mainly want to know about character of the kids. He’s at the top of the list as far as character is concerned. He’s the type of guy that is going to go out there and work and the type who is going to go do extra,” Causey said.
“I tell them about the time last year that we had track practice going on and I sent them to track practice. We had weights going on and the next thing I know Antonio is back over there in his group. I asked ‘Why are you back?’” said the coach. “He said that coach cancelled practice. Antonio came back and several others didn’t. That tells you a lot about his work ethic. He’s a high character kid. When I told that to LSU, that’s all they needed to know and the next word was ‘Coach, we will offer him.’”
Harmon also started on the basketball team this past and helped the Whippets to a 21-7 record where he averaged 13 points a game and 6.6 rebounds. Harmon also ran track where he qualified for the South 4A meet in the 200-meter run and the 4x100 relay team.
