Southern Durham standout, UNC football recruit Jaybron Harvey engineers his own future

Southern Durham football coach Darius Robinson took in a home basketball game four winters ago. The 2018-19 Spartans were led that season by Jayvis Harvey, now a 6-foot-5 guard at Tennessee Tech.

But before the tipoff, Robinson was visited by Harvey’s mother, Samiyyah Hargrave. She introduced the veteran football coach to her eighth-grade son, Jaybron.

“She told me he would be coming to Southern Durham to play football for me,” recalled Robinson. “He was big as an eighth-grader, and he was already projected to become what he has for us.”

If only taking in a basketball game turned out more commonly to be such a productive night.

Four years later, Jaybron, a 6-5, 216-pounder, leads Southern Durham football as a defensive end ranked a 4-star recruit. The website 247Sports rates Harvey as the No. 159 player nationally and the No. 19 edge rusher.

“He has instant ability to put pressure on the quarterback,” Robinson said. “North Carolina wants to put pressure on the quarterback, and Jaybron is one of the top edge rushers in the country.”

Southern Durham (1-2) beat Northern Durham last week 38-6 for its first victory in what has turned out to be a rugged non-conference schedule. The Spartans dropped their first two games against opponents that remain unbeaten, Wake Forest (3-0) and Hillside (3-0).

The tough non-conference lineup continues as Southern Durham travels for a 7 p.m. game Friday at Leesville Road (3-0).

Harvey’s highlight film shows him busting into the backfield and quickly forcing the quarterback out of his backpedal in the pocket to sprinting away. Other highlights show Harvey’s speed chasing down the ball carrier from behind on plays that are frequently run away from him.

“I love playing defensive end,” he said. “You’re involved in so much of the game. You can rush the passer, but you have to also stop the run.”

Something else North Carolina coach Mack Brown’s staff learned about Harvey during the recruiting process was he’s a team player. Harvey was on campus for his official visit last summer at the same time the Tar Heels hosted a camp for high school players. The athletes were learning skills and hoping to gain some recruiting attention of their own.

Harvey, instead of asking his hosts about the dinner menu for the fancy restaurant where they’d be dining, asked if he could stop by the North Carolina camp while it was in progress.

“I wanted to support my teammates,” Harvey said. “It was important for me to see what drills they were doing and help out if I could.”

Although Jayvis is a college basketball athlete and Jaybron’s future is in college football, they both grew up playing football and basketball. Their divergent paths were a result of injuries Jayvis suffered early in his high school football career, and Jaybron received his first scholarship offer entering his sophomore year.

“I love basketball, but I realized then football was my future,” Jaybron said.

Jaybron will be able to wear a Michael Jordan Jump Man logo that is part of the Nike-sponsored football uniform, but there is a foundational reason he committed to North Carolina.

When his mother and stepfather, Tarvarest Hargrave, bought some land to build a house, Jaybron was captivated by the planning stages. He watched the progress unfold from blueprints to a structure. With his interest in becoming an architecture engineer sparked, he began taking such classes at Southern Durham to launch his path.

At North Carolina, Harvey can count on Brown as his football mentor and Brown’s wife, Sally, as his academic and career mentor. Sally Brown began her career as an architecture engineer and previously served as president of Marin Development.

“I made a 40-year choice with North Carolina,” Harvey said. “I hope I can play in the NFL, but if not or when I’m done playing, I want to be an architectural engineer. North Carolina is a good fit for me.”