Hunter Harrison is a nineteen year old goalkeeper from Dallas, Texas. After playing for the Dallas Texans, the four star recruit committed to Oregon State but soon fell off the map. Hunter recaps what happened at OSU and what the outlook is now.
Last fall, you were signed to go play at Oregon State. What about OSU attracted you?
I was originally looking at SMU and Tulsa. I met Terry Boss at one of the Tulsa University camps where he was the coach prior to him moving to OSU. He was moving to Oregon State to become the Beavers goalkeeper coach and I wanted to play for him. I also really enjoyed with OSU’s location, soccer program, and facilities in Corvallis.
I've heard differing reports about your time at OSU, some saying you were released from the team. So talk about your exiting. How it unfolded, why it happened, who you talked to? Would you change anything going back?
Right before the season started Terry moved to the University of Virginia after he got married. So that was a setback. On top of that, my last years of high school I attended a small private school where the curriculum was a better fit for me personally. It had a better student–teacher ratio and allowed me the flexibility that I needed in my studies while focusing on my soccer training and travels. When I began to attend classes at OSU, I was having trouble feeling comfortable with the size of the class and the pace of the classroom studies so I was struggling. I returned to Dallas, continued training while taking a couple of courses at the community college. My coaches, parents, and I all agreed that this was my best decision, as opposed to hurting my NCAA eligibility.
So what's the plan now?
After leaving Oregon State, I received some interest from clubs in Germany, Norway, and Guatemala but obviously not having an agent, which would ruin my college eligibility, made it tough. I trialed with OKC Energy and for the Tulsa Roughnecks - where I was the youngest player out of everyone there at both trials - but as of right now, I will be playing for Oral Roberts University next fall. I’m ready to return to college and the classroom. I look forward to playing for Oral Roberts and the coaching staff.
And what's the current outlook like at the moment?
I’m positive. I’ve been working hard despite the setbacks. I have plans to play for a good program in the Fall and time to develop over the next year. I’ll continue to prepare as I pursue my goal to play professionally.