Caribbean Sports – CARIBBEAN SPORTS ROUNDUP
By NAN Sports Editor
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. May 3, 2018: Here are the top stories making Caribbean sports news for the week ending, May 3, 2019:
10 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE LATEST CARIBBEAN ROOTS PLAYER ADDED TO THE PATRIOTS TEAM
Love them or hate them, the New England Patriots’ Caribbean roots players on the team from just Patrick Chung of Jamaica and Haitian roots Sony Michel.
This week the team added St. Vincent and the Grenadines-roots footballer, N’Keal Harry. Here are 10 things to know about Harry:
1: N’Keal Harry, 21, was born in Toronto, Canada, before moving as a baby to St. Vincent and the Grenadines. At age 3, his grandmother, Felna Harry moved him to the Phoenix, Arizona with the blessing of his mom, to allow for more opportunity.
2: Harry reportedly tried several sports as a kid; soccer, football, and basketball, among others but then settled on football where he excelled as a student in high school at Chandler High School and was noted by many recruiting services as one of the top wide receiver recruits in the country.
3: He choose to attend Arizona State university and became just the ninth true freshman in school history to start a season opener. In his freshman season, Harry posted 58 catches for 659 yards and five touchdowns. Additionally, Harry ran for 69 yards and scored twice and completed a 46-yard pass of his own.
4: During his Sophomore campaign, N’Keal had 82 catches for 1142 yards and 8 touchdowns earning him First Team All-Conference honors. His Junior season began with media accolades as he was selected to the 2018 AP Preseason All-American team and helped the Wildcats to a comeback win.
5: Last year the 5-foot-11.9 inches, 199.7 pound player. announced that he would forego his senior year and enter the 2019 NFL Draft.
6: Harry was selected by the New England Patriots in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft with the 32nd overall pick. He is also the first wide receiver Bill Belichick has drafted in the first round during his tenure with the Patriots. This also makes him the first NFL player from SVG.
7: After 17 years apart, the new Patriots player was reunited with his mother after she flew in from St. Vincent and the Grenadines in 2018. She came back for his draft party on April 25th, which he hosted in Scottsdale, Ariz. and served as a family reunion of 50 of 60 people, including some who were granted visas to visit Harry, for the draft selection process.
8: He credits his grandmother and aunt for aiding his success to date. “My grandmother and I and one of my aunties have just been by ourselves out in Arizona. I’ve been extremely blessed with the people that have been around me, with the company that has been around me. I feel like I was blessed with people that have the same mindset as me, people that want to improve, people that want to learn, people that want to grow. So, you know, God has really blessed me throughout the years.”
9: Harry turned to Twitter after the draft and publicly vowed to “put my trust in God and do everything in my power to glorify His name.” And he added in interviews: “I’ve been extremely blessed with the people that have been around me, with the company that has been around me,” Harry said on the conference call. “I feel like I was blessed with people that have the same mindset as me, people that want to improve, people that want to learn, people that want to grow. So, you know, God has really blessed me throughout the years.”
10: Tom Brady, the Patriots quarter back, welcomed Harry by Tweeting: “Glad to have you N’Keal. Big things ahead, excited to work with you.”
JAMAICAN ADDED TO NFL NY GIANTS TEAM
Meanwhile, Montego Bay, Jamaica-born, football cornerback, Corey Ballentine, has been signed by the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Washburn, after graduating from high school in 2014 from Shawnee Heights High School. Ballentine was selected by the New York Giants in the sixth round (180th overall) of the 2019 NFL Draft.
JAMAICA’S RUSSELL FOR DOHA
All eyes in the athletic world will be on Doha today as the 2019 IAAF Diamond League gets underway for the tenth consecutive year in the Qatari capital, and with it the chase for a piece of the series’ US$8 million prize money purse.
Jamaica’s Commonwealth Champion Janieve Russell is among the top athletes set for the meet. She will run in the women’s 400m hurdles, where she will face her biggest competition from Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad of the US. Russell was the most consistent full lap hurdler on the Diamond League circuit last year, finishing first or second in her first six meetings. But she was a well-beaten third in the final where Muhammad prevailed to take the trophy. Both will be making their 2019 debuts.
