Curtis Frye: 'South Carolina signed a world-level guy' in Nyckoles Harbor
South Carolina track and field coach Curtis Frye has either coached or recruited some of the greatest track athletes of the last few decades.
The 71-year-old and longtime Gamecocks coach knows what Olympian-level good looks like. This is why his eyes light up talking about Nyck Harbor while seeing the potential of South Carolina’s crown jewel in the 2023 recruiting class.
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“Now it’s on the other foot. When you say things like that you have to be able to deliver with a gifted person,” Frye said. “This is one with the potential of a lifetime. It took 30 between (Usian) Bolt and Carl Lewis. It didn’t take 30 years to see this guy. I don’t think anybody in this room or on the hotness of the internet, I don’t think they get it.”
Lewis, a three-time Olympian and nine-time Olympic gold medalist and Bolt–arguably the best sprinter ever and 23-time gold medalist were just a few names Frye threw out when talking about Harbor.
Randy Moss, to tie things back to the football side, was another and illustrates the point Frye was trying to make. The Gamecocks are dealing with what could be a generational talent.
Harbor–a five-star and the No. 21 player in On3’s consensus rankings–signed with South Carolina yesterday with the plan to play football. He’ll also compete in track with the hopes of running someday in the Olympics.
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It’s nowhere close to a far-fetched dream while Harbor is one of the more dominant high school sprinters in the country right now.
The Gamecocks have seen a few players try and run track while splitting time with football, but none quite like Harbor.
“I’ve had a few of ‘em around. (Jadeveon) Clowney hung out in the room. He was real, he came over but couldn’t run track. He was the anchor leg at 260 pounds and running down people in the anchor leg,” Frye said.
“I faked that he could run track. There was never a chance he was going to run track. I knew he was going to get up to 280. This right here, this guy will get to run. It puts some excitement back into me. I’m 71 years old. Retirement? People ask me about that all the time. It’d be hard for me to retire on this guy.”
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Frye also joked there really isn’t anyone he can compare Harbor to, saying not even Lewis ran a 10.2 100-meter dash at 17 years old like Harbor did.
“This guy is generational,” he said. “Every once and a while you run into an opportunity to coach a generational guy. I want to coach a generational guy.”
Harbor arrives on campus this summer with his eyes set on not only playing significant snaps for the football program but running for the United States in the 2024 Olympics.
Regardless of what happens, Frye is confident the world will be watching Harbor and South Carolina.
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“The world knows this guy, trust me. In Nigeria, they know this guy…In Botswana, the guy last year who broke the world 20, Nyck knows them. Nyck wants to beat them. The IAAF knows that guy. USA track and field? They know where that guy is today,” Frye said.
“It’s not just football. South Carolina signed a world-level guy that plays football. The whole world knows who he is. If I don’t come through, the world says that guy is over the hill and can’t get it done.”
