Nation’s No. 1 “athlete” in Class of ’23, Harbor, visits UVA football

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Posted on Saturday, May. 7, 2022, 11:17 pm

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By Jerry Ratcliffe

Nyckoles Harbor (Photo: On3.com)

Former UVA basketball coach Pete Gillen used to joke about having a player named Raleigh Harbour back in the ‘90s.

Gillen would say, “You might know his sister, Pearl … Pearl Harbour.”

The most famous Harbor in Charlottesville since those days visited Virginia’s football program this weekend. He is Nyckoles Harbor (no relation to Raleigh or Pearl), and he is ranked the No. 1 athlete in the Class of 2023.

Harbor, who has been offered by 50 schools, is a 6-foot-5, 225-pound, 5-star from Archbishop Carroll in Washington, D.C., and he is legit. Virginia offered the two-sport star this week along with anybody who is anybody in college football.

Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan, Oklahoma, Clemson, Penn State, Southern Cal, Texas, Tennessee, LSU, Notre Dame, West Virginia, North Carolina, Miami, Florida, Florida State, Virginia Tech and many more have offered this world-class athlete who can play either on offense or defense.

Not only is Harbor a star football player, but he made a huge splash in the track-and-field world recently at the Beach Run Invitational meet, where he was clocked at 10.32 seconds in the 100 meters and 21.36 in the 200. The video of his 100 meters run has been viewed by 2.4 million, which helped jump his (new term) NIL Valuation at $317,000.

The 247Sports composite ranks him the No. 12 overall football prospect in the nation and the No. 1 “athlete,” with no designated position. Rivals ranks him No. 15 overall and the No. 2 athlete, while On3 has him at No. 10 overall.

Harbor could play wide receiver, tight end or perhaps running back on offense and a rush edge on defense. Or, he could choose to turn professional in track and field.

Archbishop Carroll football coach Robert Harris told On3, “He runs the 100-meters in 10.3 seconds, he can jump out of the gym, he chases down every quarterback, he has a 3.8 GPA and he works as hard as anyone.”

Harbor’s father, Azuka, is a contamination control engineer at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., while his mother, Saundra, works as a pharmacist. His sister, Giovanna, is an alum of Penn State. Harbor told On3 that he is planning to major in medicine or engineering.

During his visit to UVA on Saturday, Harbor posed in a white Cavaliers uniform with the navy blue No. 7 on his chest, surrounded by several members of the Virginia coaching staff.

Recruiting analysts have no idea where Harbor may finally end up and have not predicted any school to win his favor as of yet. Check out some of his highlights below: