“I would like to take my talents to Syracuse University.”
Those were the words East Marion star running back Jarveon Howard chose to deliver in front of family and friends Wednesday morning before he signed his letter of intent, taking a page directly out Cleveland Cavaliers superstar forward LeBron James’ playbook when he chose to shock the world and “take his talents to South Beach” in 2010.
The senior had his pick of the litter with more than a dozen FBS offers to choose from but found his home away from home in upstate New York.
“Everybody sees 17 hours when they see Syracuse. I see home,” Howard said. “I was chilling at SEC (schools) at Mississippi State and Ole Miss and still didn’t feel like I was at home. I think I had to take that ride to actually feel that way.”
While Syracuse ended up being Howard’s perfect fit, he didn’t believe the Orange had a shot at signing him when they first made contact.
“When a school looks at me and shows interest, the first thing I look at is location. I was like ‘no way.’ I had the mindset that I knew I wasn’t coming because Syracuse was so far away,” he said. “But now it doesn’t feel like it’s far away. People think of 17 hours (driving), but when you get on a plane it’s four.”
Syracuse has one of the richest running back histories in college football with the likes of Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, Floyd Little, Larry Csonka and Joe Morris dominating the nation. Brown, Davis and Little made No. 44 synonymous with Syracuse running backs, and while Howard would love to don it some day for the Orange, he would want to make it his own with a little bit of tape.
“You know the number is 44. I’m No. 8, so I’d have to put a little plus sign in the middle to keep with No. 8 if they bring that off the wall for me,” he said. “If they do that, I know I did something very well.”
Howard said the toughest part of being recruited was “people not being real” and finding a university who cared about him beyond the gridiron.
“The main thing with the recruitment process is you have all these different schools coming at you and people telling you what you want to hear. But I needed to hear certain stuff — not just from the mouth but from the heart,” he said. “The hardest part of the process was just finding the right staff and not dealing with just football. Football is not everything. The outside part of trying to make it in the real world is big, and I can tell I’m not just going with a coaching staff. I’m going into a real family, and the coaches have been through the same stuff I’ve been through.”
Syracuse plays in the ACC and has gone 4-8 in each of its last three seasons, but Howard plans to make a big impact. From day one on campus, he aims to maintain a 3.5 grade point average and score three touchdowns a game.
Howard said every school that recruited him had a fair chance, but the opportunity to attend a prestigious school like Syracuse and don the orange and navy was one he couldn’t pass up.
“I waited out the recruitment process so long, and I feel like I finally got what I needed. I’m not settling for less,” he said. “I can go high and always come back (down), so I might as well take my chances. If anybody else had the opportunity, I know they’d take a chance and take advantage of it.”
Pictured Above: East Marion senior Jarveon Howard signed his letter of intent to play at Syracuse Wednesday. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
