Harding lists his favorites

Jason Pughe

www.athletevault.com

Updated May 20, 2008...

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Boone High School in Orlando, Florida is home to arguably the top offensive lineman in Central Florida. Dave Harding is 6-4, 275 pounds and has offers from Florida State, Georgia Tech, UCF, Syracuse, Southern Miss, Purdue, and Tulane. Harding doesn’t currently have a leader, but he does have a list of top schools.

“I definitely have a group of favorite schools and they are in no particular order, Florida, Florida State, Duke, and Vanderbilt,” Harding said. “Florida State is recruiting me as a guard and with the other schools some are recruiting me at either guard or tackle.”

Despite not having a Florida offer yet, it has been rumored that once Harding received a Florida offer, he would commit. Harding states that isn’t the case and he wants to learn more about each program, including Florida.

“I definitely like Florida and have been a Gator fan my whole life,” he said. “My mom went to University of Florida and my dad went to NC State. I’m still keeping my options open and I wouldn’t commit right away if they offered. I would need to go talk to the coaches and I definitely want to take a visit up there. Right now there isn’t one particular school that is sticking out to me. I definitely would like to stay close to home, but it wouldn’t necessarily have to be in-state. Florida could be definitely be an option but just because they’ve been my favorite doesn’t mean that they would be a shoe-in for my decision.”

The Gators main rival up in Tallahassee is one of the schools that is showing Harding a lot of attention. With Harding growing up as a Gator fan, it’s ironic that he could end up playing college football for the Florida State Seminoles.

“In the past few years I have been thinking about the opportunity of possibly playing at Florida State,” said Harding. “I had mixed feelings but when they offered me I was excited. I could definitely see myself playing at Florida State. They have a need for linemen and the academics are good. They have a winning team and I like their coaching staff. The fact that it is close to home is also nice. I could definitely see myself as a Seminole and even though it might be a little bit hard for my mom, I could do it.”

So far Harding has taken two unofficial visits. This summer he plans on making some more both in-state and out of state.

“I took an unofficial visit to Florida State last year for the UAB game,” the Boone star said. “I also took an unofficial visit to Duke for the Wake Forest game. I was impressed by both of the campuses and had a good time at both place. This year I’d like to take visits to Florida, and another one to Florida State. Over the summer I think my family and I are going to be in North Carolina, so we will probably stop by Duke. My dad will be in Tennessee for meetings as well so we’ll be able to stop by Vanderbilt.”

With a busy summer ahead, Harding hopes to make his decision shortly after that. Harding has a couple of factors that will influence his decision in choosing a college.

“Academics are definitely the most important to me,” Harding said. “I want to be able to go through the program and graduate and find a good job. I haven’t decided what I want to major in yet. When I do, that will definitely take priority. Athletic facilities are another thing that is going to be at the top of my list. I will also look at if I will be redshirted or not and if I can play right away. I can see myself making a decision for next fall around the end of summer. I’m just leaving it up to God; it is hard to put a timetable on this stuff.”

Dave Harding Highlight Video:
http://www.athletevault.com/Videos/DavidHardingAV.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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