Gabriel Harrison '21 Recruiting Profile

    Playing basketball has given me a lot of positive experiences, but it was a serious situation that inspired me to be an extraordinary student athlete. When I was 9 years old, my father was diagnosed with cancer. After he healed from surgery, he started pushing his mind and body harder than ever and became an Ironman Triathlete and got his master’s degree. Seeing my dad struggle and fight to become strong again inspired me to work hard and always challenge my mind and body. I am proud of my dad and owe my success as a student athlete to him.   

    My family has lived in five different states, and I attended nine different schools during my dad’s military career. One of the obstacles for military kids is not being raised around cousins and grandparents. That is probably why I look at my teammates and coaches like family members. I value the comradery of my brothers, my teammates, when we are celebrating success and when reflecting on failures. My unique experiences from growing up in a military family gave me the confidence to adapt to new places, make new friends, and even prove myself as a great athlete and teammate when I join new basketball teams. Those abilities will also help me to adjust well at the next level, as a student athlete in college.   

    I started playing team sports when I was 7 years old and haven’t stopped. Loving sports and having natural athleticism helped me succeed at basketball, baseball and football as a little kid. I dedicated myself to year-round AAU basketball when I was 10 years old, after seeing my father make an amazing recovery from cancer. When I was 14 years old, I knew it was dedication and hard work, not just athleticism, that earned me a spot on my high school’s varsity basketball team. I was recognized by local high school sports reviewers and granted the basketball of the week award for shooting a 20 foot, 3 point winning shot in the last 2 seconds of an overtime game when we were down by 1 point. It was interesting how I saw the shot go in before my teammate even passed me the ball. Local newspaper articles recognized some of my personal contributions to my basketball team and quoted my coach as he described my hard work ethic and potential to play at the college level. 

   I made the 2020 Second Team All Eastern League in San Diego and the Aztec All Tournament Team in 2018 and 2019. I competed in track and field for the first time when I was a freshman and ended up setting records in High Jump the following year for both my high school and for my league. I hold the #1 rank in the San Diego Western League and ranked #2 in the San Diego City League for sophomore high jumpers. Even though I am capable of being a multi-sport athlete, and I lettered three years in Men's Varsity Basketball and two years in Track and Field, my love is for basketball. I get excited thinking about my future goals and playing college ball while furthering my education.