Mychal Harrison heard it all from the Division I recruiters.

He was offered the chance to suit up under the lights in front of thousands of fans at Ball State, to be a regular on ESPN playing for the Miami (Ohio) Red Hawks and to help lead the Kent State Golden Flashes to a bowl bid.

But there was one thing coaches from the Mid American Conference schools couldn’t show the Atlanta-born running back who is quick as a water bug and strong as an ox. They couldn’t show him the love.

“This is where the love was, man,” says Harrison when asked why he snubbed the big-name schools for Division I-AA Georgetown. “The coaching staff was real accepting, they showed me a lot of love, and they kept it real.”

Three games into his freshman season on the Hilltop, Harrison is loving life and hatin’ on opposing defenses. The 5-foot-8 slot back has reached the end zone twice and has provided the Hoya offense with a kinetic kick to get things going.

“He’s an excellent all-around football player,” Head Coach Kevin Kelly says. “He’s 170 pounds, but the way he’s built and the way he stops and starts on a dime, he’s very tough to tackle.”

Kelly compares Harrison’s running style to that of Detroit Lions’ legend Barry Sanders, and calls his new toy “the impact player” he has been longing for ever since Harrison committed to the Hoyas last February.

Besides the affection that Kelly and Assistant Coach Luke Thompson displayed for him during the recruiting process, Harrison lists a number of other factors that attracted him to the District.

“The academics are the best in the country,” says Harrison, who enrolled early and took two classes during the summer. “And all the sights – this is just a beautiful city.”

Growing up, Harrison was expected to dot every I and cross every last T before heading out to practice. Harrison’s parents, Lisa, a schoolteacher, and James, a truck driver, made sure their boy made the grades before he made the other team look silly.

“[Academics] have always been the number one thing in my household,” Harrison says. “I had to get my grades right or I wouldn’t play.”

Kelly raves at Harrison’s maturity and says the former all-academic MVP has adjusted very well to his first few weeks of college life.

On the gridiron, his teammates marvel at the two-star recruit’s prodigious development.

“He’s a great kid,” quarterback Matt Bassuener says. “He’s mature for a freshman, he’s like a veteran out here.”

Harrison credits fellow Atlantans Sidney Baker and Kenny itchell – who share time with him on offense – and Chris Parker and Willie Bodrick – who chase him around in practice on defense – with helping him ease into his new surroundings.

“All us Atlanta guys are real close,” Harrison says. “That was a determining factor, because it was so far from home, that I knew people up here made the adjustment.”

Mitchell and Harrison both starred at Westlake High which currently has six alumni on professional rosters – the most among all high schools. That was before its most notable alumni – erstwhile Tennessee Titans defensive back Adam “Pacman” Jones – was suspended for the 2007 season, dropping the total to five.

Harrison, who remembers Jones hanging around Lions football games, says his alma maters’ winning tradition aided his ascent up the Georgetown depth chart.

“I never really doubted myself,” says Harrison, who led the Westlake track team to the state championship in his junior year. “But I got all my nervousness out my first practice, when I got my first couple hits in, that’s when all the nerves went out.”

Harrison, who is currently tackling accounting and plans on majoring in finance, wants to dominate the business scene in the future.

“I want to be an entrepreneur,” Harrison says. “I want to build by own business.”

For now, he’s just building a winning foundation for Georgetown. He’s got all the tools – speed, strength and a whole lot of love.