When Nyckoles Harbor was 8 years old, his parents enrolled him in a summer camp to learn how to play football. Harbor had asthma and hadn't really played the sport, so his parents, Azuka and Saundra, were shocked to see their son excelling.
"The way he was carrying the ball and running with it, the coaches asked us if it would be OK for him to come out and try out for the local football team," Saundra said. "That's when we first noticed his athleticism."
Playing a full-contact sport was difficult for Harbor at first, so his youth coaches around Washington, D.C., suggested he try track to learn how to breathe properly to then perhaps learn how to play with asthma.
After one track club turned him away at its sports complex due to a lack of space, one of the football coaches suggested they work with a different running group, and once Harbor joined, there was no stopping him.
Harbor is now one of the most intriguing recruits in the 2023 class. Listed as a 6-foot-5, 220-pound versatile athlete, he runs a 10.28 100-meter dash, has Olympic aspirations and is ranked as the No. 24 college football prospect in the ESPN 300. He can play on both sides of the ball, though many schools are recruiting him as an edge rusher.
He released his top seven schools at the end of May: Georgia, LSU, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, South Carolina and USC.