“Everybody loves Jordan Harbeck,” Fairmont head coach Kenny Molz says. And star senior guard Anthony Johnson says, “He makes us better as a whole.”
That acceptance by everyone in the program is why Harbeck looks at home. He slaps a hand or gives a pat on the back when a player is subbed out during practice. He claps for good plays and to encourage someone after a bad play. When the players huddle, he joins in with arms around the shoulders of whoever he’s standing next to.
And he smiles – a lot.
“He’s the guy that leads, not just by what he says, but also by the examples that he sets,” Molz said. “And really makes an environment when he’s in it.”
From one end of the bench to the other
Harbeck says, that in his life at least, a love for something is long term and a passion is short term. Playing basketball falls under passion. After getting cut from the freshman team, he was passionate about making the junior varsity as a sophomore. He worked out with Johnson and Dasan Doucet, the Firebirds’ other star player, and a skills trainer.
Harbeck made the team but didn’t play much. At the start of junior year he was told he would be a practice player with little chance of playing in games. The passion to be a player fizzled and Harbeck decided not to play.
“I took a day and talked to my mentors and decided that I felt like I can make a greater impact off the floor than on the floor,” Harbeck said. “Practice players are amazing at what they do, but I just felt like I can make a greater impact on my community outside.”
His love for basketball was blazing, so he started working for Rob Ellis at Miami Valley Hoop Vault, a website that covers high school basketball. He wrote a little for the site and shot a lot of videos. He was connected to the game he loves and networked with coaches and players all over the valley.
But journalism, like playing basketball, turned out be a short-term passion.
While Harbeck was mulling his next move, new assistant coach Danny LeComte contacted him about being a student coach as a senior. Harbeck wasn’t sure at first. But the networking and building relationships part of his work with the website was something he realized he loved. He could do that as a coach.
“My why statement is to make a positive impact on people so they can maximize themselves as a person,” Harbeck said. “And I feel like I can do that through basketball.”
Harbeck sat on the bench with the coaches during freshman, JV and varsity games. He says and does coach things. But behind the scenes is where he has his greatest effect on the team. He creates playlists from game video for different players to help them see what they need to improve. He prepares scouting reports. He built credibility in the program as a player, so he has enough of their respect to hold them accountable.
He even encourages his boss like he did after a late-season loss to Wayne.
“He could tell that I was a little distraught,” Molz said. “He said such a positive thing to me about how this is the best thing that is going to happen to us. The guys are going to be able to refocus. We’re going to be better because of that game.”
Johnson said Harbeck’s presence, humility and work ethic provided a spark that he and the Firebirds needed this season, which has become one of the best in program history. They’ve been ranked in the top 10 in the state all season and take a 21-3 record into their first district final since 2007. If the Firebirds beat Sycamore on Sunday at the University of Cincinnati, it will be their first district title since 1995.
“He’s one of my best friends,” Johnson said. “When I’m unsure about something or just some thought that I have about the team or just in general, he’s normally the first or one of the first people I talk to. It’s definitely the consistency of day in and day out all he does and especially behind the scenes. That’s really how he’s gained our respect.”
A great-grandfather’s inspiration
Harbeck loved his great-grandfather PaPa Chet who collected four-leaf clovers and put them inside of framed pictures of his great-grandson. When Harbeck played he wore No. 4 to honor Chet. He also wore No. 4 to remind him of the four times he got cut.
“I didn’t really feel like I took full advantage of the relationship with my great-grandfather while he was around,” Harbeck said. “So that kind of spurs me wanting to network and wanting to maintain and build relationships now, especially with being able to make an impact through this program.”
The networking experience of his work with Miami Valley Hoop Vault and relationship building of being a student coach have been Harbeck’s next logical steps. His next step is to earn a degree in sports management at the University of Dayton and work as a student manager with men’s basketball team.
“He has the drive, he knows the game,” is the beginning of a conversation Molz hopes to have with UD coach Anthony Grant. “This is a student coach you definitely want on staff. He will go above and beyond, do what you ask. He does the little things. He’s not too good to mop the floor.”
At practice, the student coach who used to wear No. 4, grabs a thick pad and hits players as they shoot a layup, teaching them to finish through contact. Then he sets out cones for a defensive drill. Then he’s the passer in a shooting drill.
“If he doesn’t go to UD to be a manager,” Molz said, “I want him back next year.”
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