Often times during the high school recruiting process you will hear recruits talk about how important academics are when they try to decide where they want to go, but you won’t see blue chip recruits lining up to play for Ivy League schools despite them having superior academics.
Seth Towns went against the grain, as he opted to play at Harvard over in state power Ohio State and their rival to the north in Michigan.
Here are some details on the decision from Bleacher Report:
Four-star basketball prospect, small forward Seth Towns, who hails from Columbus, Ohio, surprised many when he verbally committed to play for Harvard over traditional powers Ohio State and Michigan. He is slated to graduate high school next year and arrive at Harvard in the fall of 2016.
Wednesday afternoon, Towns explained his decision in his own words to Bleacher Report’s Damon Sayles.
There’s a quote I love by [Ralph Waldo] Emerson: “Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path.” Dismantling normality, that’s what I stand for. I’m attempting to dismantle normality, personally, by going to Harvard.
My goal is to go pro with a Harvard degree. That’s the perfect scenario.
Outside of basketball, my dream is to work at Google. I want to be a software developer and plan on majoring in computer science. A degree from Harvard would be special and set me apart.
This is a man with a plan. First off he quotes Ralph Waldo Emerson, which is impressive because I am willing to bet a lot of recruits couldn’t even tell you who that is, and he also wants to work for Google after graduating.
I know this won’t become a trend among recruits, but it is pretty refreshing to see that some kids are not as caught up in the idea of trying to make it to the NBA and realize that a degree from somewhere like Harvard could take them a long way.
