Published: August 21, 2009 12:59 am      

WVU’s Hargrett plays bigger than he’s listed

MORGANTOWN — Today I am in my O’Henry mode, so this will be a short story, so to speak.

It’s about Daquan Hargrett, one of the most intriguing running backs West Virginia brought in with this year’s class.

If O’Henry were to write the story, it would begin something like this, much as his “Gift of the Magi” began.

“One-thousand-one-hundred-and-twenty-nine rushing yards. And that wasn’t all. There were 17 touchdowns, too. Touchdowns that helped Miami Northwestern High School to consecutive Class 6A state championship finals. Once it led to a state championship. Once it missed by the thinnest of margins.”

O’Henry would then go on to tell you about Daquan Hargrett, putting the story in motion. He’d tell you how he was 5-feet, 10-inches tall. Not that you didn’t know that already, considering that it was in the high school program and it was on all the recruiting sites across the land that is America, something like six or eight million of such sites, giving just a little room for exaggeration.

He would tell how Clemson and Iowa State and Minnesota and the University of South Florida had offered this elusive ball carrier scholarships and about how he had taken West Virginia’s offer. He’d talk about all that, build up the conflict that had to be overcome as he made the journey to Morgantown where he was so eagerly awaited.

And then, just as he was walked through the doors, O’Henry would give you one his famous twists on the ending, as this tiniest of men emerged.

Five-foot-10, indeed.

This ball carrier, it came to be seen, stood just 5-6.

When it is mentioned to Hargrett that he turned out to be something of a surprise package, he admitted that he laughed when he first saw he was being listed as 5-10 and wondered if perhaps those might who had not seen him would wonder if, indeed, he were the wrong person.

Imagine, if you would, if O’Henry had actually written this short story and closed with West Virginia sending Hargrett back to his Florida home until he grew up, but that was not about to happen, for West Virginia obviously doesn’t seem to mind one bit if its skilled players are vertically challenged.

Consider that Noel Devine, who is the school’s best running back, is but 5-8, and Mark Rodgers, his backup, 5-9, and Jock Sanders, the starting slotback, is 5-7, and reserve running back Mike Portier 5-8.

Certainly, Hargrett has considered it.

“I feel very, very comfortable. If I went to any other school, I probably would have been the shortest guy. But here, I’m comfortable. It’s like midgets in the backfield. Height-wise, I loved it here,” he said, somewhat politically incorrectly but certainly with accuracy.

Hargrett believes that being short can work to his advantage.

“The other day in practice we were going through a drill, and the defensive linemen were yelling, ‘You gotta get him out of there. I can’t see him. I can’t see him!” he related, laughing.

Put behind someone like 6-5, 298-pound Selvish Capers, Hargrett simply disappears from view.

And, being a smaller package who has a low, low center of gravity on his 190-pound frame offers another advantage.

“You can move quicker. I love it,” he said.

Hargrett did not come to Morgantown to have his height become the center of discussion.

“How long do you think it will take before people stop talking about your height and start talking about your football ability?” he was asked.

His answer told a lot about the lad, as head coach Bill Stewart would call him.

“When I get on the field, they’ll see how good I am,” he said.

If this sounded like a boast, it was one, but one that came from confidence fed by success.

Interestingly, the problem of exaggerating players’ heights and weights is as old as football itself and as common in the game as a third-and-three situation. Recruiters know they must be careful about it.

“It’s part of the recruiting process,” Mountaineers recruiting director Doc Holliday admits. “What you have to do as a coach is have certain people you can trust. You’ve got to pick up the phone and call someone you have faith in and say, ‘Hey, how tall is this guy? Is he this? Is he that?’ If there’s a guy we hear about in Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) there are five, six, 10 people I can call and find out pretty quickly how tall he is without going down to see him.”

And so it is that Hargrett can rest assured that they knew all they needed to know about him when they went after him and that he’s exactly what they expected.

Hargrett understands that at present there isn’t a lot of room for him on the field and is willing to redshirt, if that’s what he must do.

“I’d love to play as a true freshman, but it’s their decision and they have the best interest of the team at heart,” he said. “I don’t have any problems with being a redshirt.”

Just so long as the sleeves aren’t too long.

Email Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com.