Hudson Valley Viking offensive lineman Aarion Harvey will be playing Division I football for the Central Michigan Chippewas.
He made the announcement via Twitter on Friday. He chose the Chippewas over Indiana, Toledo, Texas Tech, Southern Miss, Middle Tennessee State, and many more. The Chippewas offered him on April 1.
Aarion Harvey is the 23rd commit of Central Michigan’s 2020 class, the fourth offensive lineman, and second transfer alongside three-star quarterback Ty Brock. The Central Michigan Chippewas went 8-6 (6-2 MAC) in 2019.
He’s joining an offense that had the Mid-American Conference’s fifth-best offense in total yards (433.6 yards per game) fifth-leading rusher in Jonathan Ward (1,108 yards, 6.1 yards per carry, 15 touchdowns), the third-leading receiver in JaCorey Sullivan (57 catches, 808 yards, three touchdowns) and second-best passing offense (252.2 yards per game).
“It was really about choosing a school that was a family, was going to push me to work hard, a school that was about developing their players and a school that was going to set me up with the best opportunity to get to the league. Central Michigan University fits all those factors tremendously,” Harvey Said.
The 6-foot-5, 318 pound, Chicago, Illinois native credits God and two of his coaches at Hudson Valley, head coach Don Jones and offensive line coach Michael Zolaga, for his success. Harvey said that with Jones as his head coach, Hudson Valley was the best place to be and Jones was the best coach he had ever had. Zolaga’s hard-nosed coaching style made him better and he understood that Zolaga had high expectations of him.
“They pushed me, made me the face of Hudson Valley football, and helped me get to where I was at. Being at Hudson Valley, I even got national recognition as one of the best junior college offensive linemen in the country. I could say I was very thankful for the situation God put me in.”
His fondest memory with the Vikings is the hard work he put in in the classroom. He earned a 4.0 GPA all while being a full-time student and having a full-time job. He feels like he truly worked hard for that and he’ll never forget it.
He believes he will mesh well with the Central Michigan Chippewas because the team is on the same page as far as how they view the game. Coming in as a transfer, he is going to do what is expected of him and give 1,000 percent effort. He aims to be a student of the game and the best offensive lineman he can be.
“Everything with Central Michigan was different. The coaches were honest and real. They didn’t tell me the stuff I wanted to hear. They told me the truth,” Harvey said about the Central Michigan coaching staff. “I also liked that they’re truly a family over at Central Michigan. The coaching staff has a great background and good history with sending players to the next level.”
Aarion Harvey would like to thank Coach Oyefesobi of the Stars Mentor Program who stuck by him and treated him like a son. Harvey said that he believed that his hard work would pay off. “That’s the type of thing that’s important. Those people are who you want in your life.”
