Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade-Madonna offensive lineman Elvin Harris has been looking forward to his UCF official visit ever since his offer arrived earlier this spring.
"It was wonderful," Harris said of his weekend in Orlando. "I loved it here. It was a great experience. To hang out with the coaches and hang out with the players on the team, it was just a fun experience to have. It was all around a good time."
He particularly enjoyed getting to know the players.
"My player host was Chido (Chidoziri Maghiro)," Harris said. "And Adrian (Medley). It was fun to hang around them and seeing college players that play the same position as me. He was just teaching me stuff, stuff I could do to help me grow as a person and a player. I was watching how he carries himself. In the community, how he walks and people notice that he's on the football team. The way they carry themselves, it was fun to see that."
They did some fun stuff too.
"We went to TopGolf with all the coaches," Harris said. "We all played golf. It was actually my first time playing golf. It was a learning experience. I'm not gonna lie, my first five times I didn't hit anything. I noticed I had the right (handed) club. I'm left-handed, so I had to get my lefty and I started hitting a couple things."
The food was also a highlight.
"When I got here Friday I had wings," Harris said. "At TopGolf we had burgers and chicken tenders. For breakfast, they had a chef that was personally making us omelettes."
If Harris were to come to UCF, his position coach would be Herb Hand.
"Coach Hand, he's a great guy and a great coach," Harris said. "I learned about his background and some of the players he coached. One of the funnest facts I learned is Coach Hand knows how to cook. He was actually on a TV show. He came in second place in cooking. He was telling me how he can throw down a brisket. One day I'm going to have to try that out."
Harris also loved meeting head coach Gus Malzahn.
"He's a great coach," Harris said. "It was kind if surprising to me. I was thinking something different. I didn't know he was that tall. He's kind of tall. I always thought he was short, seeing him on TV next to Cam Newton. It was fun to hang around him. He's a good person. I went to his house this morning to eat breakfast. He welcomed everyone with open arms. It was just lovely here."
Orlando is also a draw. He loves the fact it's not too far from home.
"There's no NFL team here," Harris said. "UCF is the NFL team basically. It's a lot of support around it. There's actually a lot of opportunities out here too with having Disney here and Disney owns ESPN. It's a lot of opportunities you can get coming to UCF. Just like they say, UCF is literally gonna be the future of college football. It's gonna be big."
He could also have the opportunity to play for UCF's inaugural Big 12 team in 2023.
"That's a huge impact, going to the Big 12," Harris said. "Coach Hand briefly talked about it before. He knows how to win in the Big 12 because he was at Texas. He knows the league."
Tulane and FAU are among the schools heavily recruiting him. No other visits are planned at this time.
"I'd say UCF is the team to beat right now," Harris said. "I keep saying it. I love the coaching staff here. The players. Just the city in general too. It's a beautiful city. I went downtown with a couple players and we walked around the strip. We saw everything. It's a beautiful city. The facilities and stuff, I saw the weight room. Out of UCF and where else I've been, like FSU, UCF is pretty big. I see they want to work."
