On Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020, Cheltenham seniors Adonis Hunter & TJ Harris were recognized for signing letters of intent to play collegiate football at East Stroudsburg. (Photos provided courtesy of Dana Walker/Cheltenham High School)
TJ Harris – East Stroudsburg University (Football)
Major: Undecided
Final list of colleges: East Stroudsburg, West Chester, Millersville, Cal U, Kutztown
Reasons for choosing East Stroudsburg: “I just loved the coaches. They’ve been texting me since my 11th grade year, and we just built a relationship over time. I went up there on an overnight visit, and I was bonding with the players – I felt like I fit right in. The coaches – I trusted everything they said.”
What was the progression that led you to competing in football at the collegiate level? “I’ve been playing football since I was five, and them giving me the chance to keep playing for the next four years at East Stroudsburg is a blessing.”
Coach Ryan Nase says: “TJ is a lot like his head coach. His greatest weakness is also his greatest strength in that the tenacity he shows on the field is just second to none. When you talk to TJ off the field, he’s a happy-go-lucky kid. He’s got a great personality, he jokes, but when he’s on the field, he’s just a different person, and it’s a lot like me. Sometimes I had to apologize for my actions and TJ’s actions because we just go so hard that sometimes it rubs people the wrong way. Again, when you talk to college coaches, that’s exactly what they’re looking for in kids. It’s a lot easier to calm a kid down than to cattle prod them to get excited, and TJ just brings a whole another level of effort and tenacity to the field that you don’t usually see in kids. That’s why he had the success he had. When that ball goes up in the air, whether he’s playing free safety or wide receiver, there’s nobody who wants it more than him, and he just goes up and gets it. He’s going to play free safety. Obviously, he had a tremendous season at wide receiver for us, but he has a defensive player’s mentality. That’s what he wanted, that’s what all the college coaches wanted. He’s going to turn into a great, great safety.”
About TJ:
Favorite food: Pizza
Favorite movie: Paid in Full
Favorite artist: G19
Adonis Hunter – East Stroudsburg (Football)
Major: Undecided
Final list of colleges: East Stroudsburg, Millersville, Widener, Delaware Valley
Reasons for choosing East Stroudsburg: “At East Stroudsburg, the coaches showed me a lot of love. I felt like everything they said to me was honest and truthful. I love the campus – it’s beautiful. It’s also an honor to play in a league like the PSAC, the best Division II league in the country. That was definitely attractive about the school.”
What was the progression that led you to competing in football at the collegiate level? “I always hoped I would be able to play in college, but it didn’t start to become a reality until probably the spring after my junior season. I started to get some interest from some schools, and of course, after the special year we had, I really started to get in contact with a lot of coaches. The run that we had really helped me out.
“At the end of the day, I consider myself an athlete. I can be anywhere on the field, and it’s going to work out for me. A position change is no problem for me.”
Coach Ryan Nase: “Adonis has signed with East Stroudsburg to play linebacker. We’re still a relatively small roster, so all of our guys practice at an offensive and defensive position. Adonis has been practicing at linebacker his whole career, but because he’s been the starting quarterback, we’ve kind of been afraid to play him at linebacker even though he’s really good at it. When you watch Adonis play quarterback, he’s not the prettiest, he doesn’t have the long, nice throwing motion, and he’s not very tall, but he just wins. He gets it done, and he makes good decisions. Through the recruiting process when talking to East Stroudsburg, they said, ‘If we’re going to take a shot on kids, he’s the type of kid we want to take a shot on – a state championship level program, used to winning, a leader. All those other things you talk to kids about doing right is the reason why he’s getting this opportunity.
“I say it all the time – the many things people don’t see were the most important things he meant to us. If you watched us closely, we went to significantly more no-huddle and calling plays at the line of scrimmage, and all those things went through Adonis, and he just never messed it up. The ability to be able to do that is just extraordinary. That was a huge asset that allowed us to get over the hump. Adonis deserves a lot of the credit along with his position coach, Rob Carter, for being able to implement that and put that in.”
About Adonis:
Favorite food: Hot Wings
Favorite movie: Menace to Society
Favorite artist: Young Thug
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