It would be easy for Harris to come home with a swagger after his first season playing with the Georgia football team, but he says nothing has changed.
"Some people can watch me on TV now, but I am the same old person I was," Harris said. "My friends think it's cool that I play football, but they know me for who I am and not what I do."
Cherryville basketball coach Scott Harrill knows about that. He's watched Harris grow up as a football and basketball player, and as a person too.
"Kenneth is just a level-headed kid," Harrill said. "He's really matured beyond his years. I really don't think the fame and success will change him."
Harris faced one challenge most other teenagers don't have to deal with. He spent the first two years of high school helping care for his terminally ill father. Keith Harris passed away in April 2002.
That maturity and athletic ability helped the wide receiver shine in his first season playing with Georgia. He sat out the 2004 season as a redshirt but had a strong debut with the Bulldogs this season.
"I think I did pretty good," Harris said. "I'd give myself a `B.' I did some good things, but I'm just glad I got some experience under my belt."
The Bulldogs play West Virginia in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 2 in Atlanta. That game will be nationally televised, but Harris already has had a memorable moment in front of the nation.
"I had some special plays, but I think that first catch will really be the highlight of my career," Harris said. "It was my first play, and I was nervous, but I knew I had to run a good route. When I scored, that's something you can't even put into words. You see everyone out there with red on cheering for you, and you know that all the hard work you go through in the off-season paid off."
But Harris knows he can be better. He's gained 10 pounds of muscle since starting college, but the 6-foot-3, 210-pound Harris wants to become a better blocker and have more endurance.
He'll need that endurance, because Harris likely will be on the field more next season. Starting receiver Bryan McClendon will graduate, opening more playing time for Harris.
He's already seen quite a bit of action. Harris played the entire second half against Auburn and typically was in the lineup for about half the team's plays.
Instead, Harris has become a big part of Georgia's future. Bulldogs quarterback D.J. Shockley graduates after the season, but the team will still have Joe Tereshinski and Charlotte Independence graduate Joe Cox on its 2006 roster.
No matter what happens, Harrill doesn't expect Harris to forget his hometown. The former Cherryville great plans to watch his alma mater's basketball team play Shelby on Wednesday.
"He still talks to me four or five times a week," Harrill said. "He knows where he comes from and likes to get home when he can. He's just a good kid."
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