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Richardson, Texas native Harris Durham has announced his verbal commitment to the application process* at Harvard University and will join the Crimson in the 2021-22 school year.
“I am thrilled to announce my verbal commitment to the application process to continue my academic and swimming career at Harvard University! I am so grateful for my family, coaches, teachers and friends for being my biggest supporters that have helped make this possible. I can’t wait to begin the next chapter of my life with this amazing team and incredible coaching staff. Go Crimson!”
Durham attends Richardson High School; he swims year-round for City of Richardson Swim Team. In his junior year high school season, he finaled in the 100 free (14th) and 200 free (12th) at the 2020 Texas UIL 6A Swimming and Diving State Championships. He also went 45.89 on the end of the Richardson 400 free relay at the UIL 6A Region 02 Championship.
A USA Swimming Futures qualifier in the 100 free and 200/400 IM, Durham has had significant drops throughout his high school career:
| Freshman 2017-18 | Sophomore 2018-19 | Junior 2019-20 | |
| 50 free | 23.03 | 22.20 | 21.61 |
| 100 free | 49.56 | 47.25 | 46.34 |
| 200 free | 1:45.58 | 1:42.33 | 1:40.15 |
| 100 breast | 1:01.97 | 59.22 | 58.94 |
| 200 IM | 2:03.11 | 1:55.77 | 1:54.43 |
| 400 IM | — | 4:23.67 | 4:06.36 |
At the 2020 Ivy League Men’s Championships, Durham could have swum in the C finals of the 200 free and 400 IM but it took 20.87/45.62 in free 1:49.90 in the 200 IM and 56.08 in the 100 breast to score for the Crimson at conference.
*Note: A verbal commitment between an Ivy League coach and a prospective student-athlete is not an offer of admission, as only the Admission Office has that authority. The coach can only commit his or her support in the admission process. Ivy League Admission Offices do not issue “Likely Letters” before October 1 of the prospective student-athlete’s senior year of high school. The Likely Letter, while issued after an initial read of the student’s application, is not an offer of admission to the university.
If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to [email protected].
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Well, this is a new one on me. How exactly does a “verbal commitment to the application process” work? Is an athlete saying that if they are accepted at Harvard they promise to attend? Or is the commitment contingent upon the athlete receiving early admission and notification in December? Does the athlete promise to only seek early admission at the school to which they are verbally committed? And finally, if the athlete does not receive early admission and is deferred until the spring, is that commitment then no longer operative?
I’m curious how Futures get you recruited at Harvard.