Harris more comfortable

In 2010, Mesquite, Texas, junior DeVante Harris got his first taste of being on 'the island'. With spring practice right around the corner, the 5-foot-11 and 165-pound cornerback expects a smoother senior season.

Last fall, Harris had 45 tackles with three interceptions and 11 PBUs, and also blocked a pair of field goals.

"We start spring ball on April 14th and I am just focused on working on everything," said Harris. "It is my second year of playing cornerback so I am going into spring ball a lot more comfortable. I just played receiver and returned punts my sophomore year before switching to corner last year. So I feel a lot more comfortable with my assignments and I am not in as much of a learning mode now.

"Overall as a team, we have a lot of team speed coming back. So we expect a pretty good year."

Over the past few weeks, Harris has collected scholarship offers from Mississippi State, Virginia and SMU. He also noted that several other schools are showing high interest.

"Here lately, I have mainly been talking with Coach (Angelo) Mirando and Coach (Melvin) Smith of Mississippi State," said Harris. "I am also starting to get interest from TCU, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Baylor and those schools are coming on kinda strong."

With the in-state schools now showing more interest, Harris noted that staying close to home would not be a factor in his college decision.

"A school is a school and a college is a college," said Harris. "So staying in Texas for school is not going to be a big factor for me. I just want to find the right fit and make the right decision."

Harris recently attended junior day at Mississippi State and was planning a return trip. However, that return trip will now be delayed a few weeks.

"I am looking very hard at the first three schools that offered me," said Harris. "It was good for those schools to show they had confidence in me. I have already been to see Mississippi State and I was going back for Super Bulldog Weekend. But we have a Nike camp at TCU that same weekend. So I am going to wait and come back in June. I am going to bring my parents with me and introduce them to the coaches and show them around campus."

Concerning his eventual decision, Harris said that decision could be known in the near future.

"I am not one that wants to wait very long," said Harris. "Once I find a place I definitely want to be at, as soon as I know then I will make my decision. I am testing the waters a bit and just seeing these schools. But I plan to make my decision by the end of the spring."