If things had gone according to plan, BYU's Micah Harper would be getting to know the team that drafted him in last week's NFL Draft and preparing for a life in pro football with a college degree in hand. Dew.
“My father has a saying that it takes a village to raise a child. He helped me.”
— BYU defensive back Micah Harper on receiving degree
Harper successfully earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from BYU's prestigious Marriott School of Business, graduating last week along with 18 other members of the Cougars' 2023 football team. But the safety measures are not moving on from Provo, as he prepares for his season of football at BYU.
His right knee injury during spring training in 2021, left knee injury during preseason training camp last fall, and several season-ending ACL injuries have drastically altered his pro schedule. But that didn't stop the player from Chandler, Arizona. I completed my degree in just 4 years.
“I kid you not, it wasn't easy at all,” he said of completing his degree in a short period of time. “My father has a saying that it takes a village to raise a child. He helped me.”
Harper, 22, is in San Diego this week working on an internship that will help him after his playing days are over. But he definitely wasn't done with his studies at BYU.
He was accepted into the BYU Marriott MBA program and will begin working toward a master's degree in entrepreneurship this fall, while also reflecting on the performance of the 2020 and 2022 seasons that made him one of the best defensive players. He will help out the Cougars in hopes of reproducing the same. He was on the team and a possible NFL Draft pick until suffering a second serious knee injury last fall.
“Buy this person's stock”
During a graduation party last Thursday night, Harper received an email informing her that she had been accepted into the MBA program, and posted part of the letter and a graduation photo on X.
BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill quickly chimed in, reposting Harper's post and shouting in capital letters, “Buy this guy's stock!”
Hill wrote: “I can't wait to see what the future holds for you. Great football player, very smart and a phenomenal person. The 2024 season is going to be special for Micah and @BYUfootball.”
Harper said Monday from San Diego. Coach Hill is great. ”
Harper said his best friend on the team, receiver Cody Epps, has been his “partner in crime” all along and graduated and was accepted into BYU's MBA program. Read more about Harper's relationship with Epps below.
Harper's health is not a concern.
When Harper entered training camp last fall, he had signed up for more than 15 credit hours in order to graduate in December. He then hired an agent and planned to start training for the 2024 draft without worrying about school. But after it became clear that no NFL team would accept a player with a torn ACL who hadn't played since 2022 due to a knee injury, Harper split his classes and took half of them in the fall semester. , and the other half of the courses were taken in the fall semester. I will graduate in the winter semester.
“I'm going to go through an MBA program for a year and get that paycheck while I'm playing, and then hopefully if I have a good season, I'm going to go to the NFL,” he said. “If not, come back for six years. His six years will be paid for just like completing a master's degree.”
The 5-foot-10, 195-pounder did not participate in BYU's 15 spring practices last month, but is 95 percent healed from his knee injury and will participate if requested by coaches. He said it was possible. He said he expects to be 100% in late July when training camp begins for the 2024 season.
“The coaches wanted to focus on other players who hadn’t gotten as many reps in the past,” he said. “Their focus on me is mainly to make sure my strength is back to full strength and my sides are getting better, and then when summer training comes I can carry that into the season and be a full participant. All I had to do was get myself in shape for the “game.'' “
Harper started five games at cornerback as a true freshman in 2020, recording 25 tackles and two pass breakups. He started nine of 13 games in 2022, recording 62 tackles and three pass breakups.
My personal favorite moments so far include the pass breakup over the middle on third down on Notre Dame's second possession in Las Vegas and the late game against East Carolina at LaVell Edwards Stadium. It was a tackle-for-loss situation.
Become a “jack of all trades” off the field
During Harper's official campus visit to BYU in December 2019, he met two people who would later have a major influence on his stay in Provo. The aforementioned Epps was also visiting Mater Dei High School in Southern California. A BYU marketing professor named Mike Bond.
“They took us to Sundance and Mike Bond gave a marketing presentation about business school, so I really wanted to be in the marketing program,” Harper said. Told. “A few years later, I took a class called Entrepreneurship Marketing taught by Mike Bond. It was probably my favorite class at BYU.”
Harper tried to participate in the marketing program, but was rejected. He was hired for a business management role that was less focused than marketing, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I learned a lot about a wide range of business-related topics. ”
Another of his favorite classes is Business Negotiations, taught by Simon Greathead.
“I really liked that class because it forces you to always think outside the box in negotiations. It's about how to talk to people, improvisational thinking, how to come up with deals, how to negotiate lower prices, etc.,” he says. said. “It was a great class.”
What is his most difficult class?
“Accounting and economics,” he said. “Those two classes were quite difficult.”
But thanks to his friendship with Epps, he overcame them.
Receivers and Defensive Backs Team Up — In the Classroom
Harper and Epps competed against each other at various invitation-only football camps for highly rated prospects in Southern California, and knew each other by reputation, but it wasn't until a campus visit in 2019 that they actually bonded. That never happened. Additionally, late in their freshman year, Epps was sidelined with a foot injury and Harper was sidelined with his first torn ACL, but both attended BYU as student-athletes who are not members of the faith that supports and governs BYU. I tried to get over it. Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
They both applied to business programs in their second year, with Epps majoring in entrepreneurship and Harper majoring in marketing. Both were rejected.
“Our second choice was business management. We were both interested in that,” Harper said. “The results are better.”
My teammates, who spent their first year at BYU together in a dormitory, structured their dormitory so that they spent all of their classes together in Business Administration.
“So for the past two years, Kody and I have been in the same class,” Harper said. “He helped me and I helped him. We all know we're always together, we fool around together, that kind of thing.
“We went through the whole process, we both graduated together, we both walked together (at Commencement), and we both made it in four years. …Now we both have MBAs. I’m going to bring my entrepreneurial spirit to the program.”
They also celebrated receiving their diplomas.
Harper's mother, Christina, and Epps' mother, Brooke Williams, planned a graduation party for the family in Provo.
“When I graduated from high school in 2020, I couldn't have a graduation ceremony or a graduation party because of the coronavirus,” Harper said. “Both of our moms wanted to do something for us to celebrate the big accomplishment of graduating from college, but also because we weren't able to achieve it in high school. . good.”
Even better, while they were celebrating together, they received an email notification that they had been accepted into the BYU MBA program.
“So there was cheering all around,” Harper said.
This time we're away from LaVell Edwards Stadium, which makes sense.
