Wake Forest Athletics
Harrison Named Gatorade Boys Soccer Player of the Year
5/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
By Josh Gresh, Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeMSoccer)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest men's soccer incoming freshman Jack Harrison has been named the 2014-15 Gatorade Boys Soccer Player of the Year as announced by the committee on Tuesday afternoon.
Harrison becomes the second Wake Forest men's soccer signee to be named Gatorade Boys Soccer Player of the Year in program history. The last time the Deacons had an incoming freshman win the award was Pat Phelan, who won the high school award for 2003-04. Phalen was an outside back and a starter on the 2007 Wake Forest National Championship team.
"We are very excited to have Jack as part of the Wake Forest men's soccer family," said Wake Forest head coach Bobby Muuss. "Not only is he a great young player, but he is also an incredible young man. He has a very bright future ahead of him as a Demon Deacon and we expect him to make an impact as soon as he arrives in Winston-Salem."
The Berkshire School player was presented the award at his school by ESPN soccer analyst and former MLS MVP Taylor Twellman. Twellman himself was a two-time Gatorade Missouri Boys Soccer Player of the Year. His family and friends were also in attendance, as well as his mother Deborah Harrsion, who surprised him making the trip all the way from his hometown in Bolton, England.
Also named the Gatorade Massachusetts Boys Soccer Player of the Year, Harrison had a stellar final season of high school soccer at Berkshire School. He scored a total of 16 goals and added 27 assists while leading the Bears to a 19-2-1 record and a second straight New England Prep School Athletic Council Class A championship this past season.
The Bolton, England native was one of two players nationally to be chosen as an All-American by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) for both high school and club soccer. He was also named the 2014 Boston Globe All-Scholastic Prep School Offensive Player of the Year.
Harrison has shown his hard work in the class as the maintained a B average while serving as a school ambassador and volunteering for multiple community service initiatives.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. In addition to athletic excellence, the award recognizes academic achievement and exemplary character on and off the field.
