Demetric Hardin, Lewisville football’s do-it-all guy, signs to Middle Tennessee State
Demetric Hardin Jr. didn’t have a conventional signing day.
Hardin, who was Lewisville’s starting quarterback and leading rusher as a senior, announced that he’d signed to play college football at Middle Tennessee State from his living room couch on Monday.
He was surrounded by family — who cheered when he revealed his MTSU T-shirt under his blue and white button-down, and who laughed when Hardin said he was most looking forward to “playing on TV” next year.
Childhood trophies framed the Zoom video call’s camera shot. A large portrait of Hardin in his high school jersey served as the shot’s backdrop.
No, the signing day wasn’t normal. It wasn’t like the others Hardin witnessed while he was at the Shrine Bowl in December, or like the ones on National Signing Day in February.
But the peculiar moment befitted Hardin — Lewisville’s understated, undeniable, do-it-all soldier — anyway.
“It feels good,” Hardin said, his goofy smile saying more than his words. “My freshman year, I didn’t really get the chance to play because I got hurt. So I was trying to get myself right for that while playing basketball. And while playing basketball I got hurt again, my hamstring. So once I got to my 10th grade year, I had to work hard and get stronger.
“And that made me the person I am today.”
Hardin’s career made him unforgettable in Lewisville lore: He passed for 1,427 yards and 11 touchdowns. He ran for 1,541 yards and 19 touchdowns. He caught 30 passes for 749 yards and eight touchdowns. And he returned five kickoffs for touchdowns. All in only 24 games.
In nine games as a senior, Hardin accumulated 2,840 total yards.
Hardin was Lewisville’s first player to make the Shrine Bowl since 2012. He was the 2019 All-Region Player of the Year, and he was also an All-State and All-Herald selection.
Maybe most revealingly, Hardin led the Lions to a playoff appearance in 2019, despite the team only having 21 players on its active roster come the end of the season.
He was a four-year player for Lewisville — and emerged as a diamond from some of the football program’s deepest troughs.
“I can’t express this enough,” said William Mitchell, Lewisville’s head football coach. “This kid was there when we were 0-10, and we were getting our brains beat out every week. And battling. And not just him, but his teammates, too. The level that they stuck together. What is he going to face in college that’s worse than anything he’s seen already? I’m talking about on the field.
“Adversity isn’t going to mean very much to this man. This young man knows how to overcome it.”
Hardin signs to Middle Tennessee State
Hardin said he chose MTSU — over other D1 offers Louisville and Coastal Carolina — because of how committed the MTSU coaches were to him.
“They never gave up (on me),” Hardin said.
Hardin will play wide receiver in college and major in sports management, he said. He plans to make his first physical visit to campus in June, once coronavirus restrictions wane, and he’ll be rooming with Clover High School standouts Gabe Carroll and Jaylin Lane.
Lane and Hardin met at the 2019 Shrine Bowl.
“He’s a cool dude,” Lane told The Herald via phone interview when asked about his first impression of Hardin. “I went and watched his highlights. He’s got some burners.”
Hardin was quite the basketball player, too. He scored over 1,400 career points, averaging about 18 points per game for his career. He was a two-time Region Player of the Year; a two-time All-State selection; and a first-team All-Herald selection in 2020.
Lewisville basketball head coach Mike McCray said he met Hardin when he was in the seventh grade.
“He was about 105 pounds, a seventh grader who played on our travel AAU team,” McCray said. “I knew immediately that he was one of the kids who had the ability to lead. It was a very great experience having him as a starter for the basketball team for four years. This is one of the kids who can lead by example.”
Hardin’s mother, Lawanna Kennedy, was “overwhelmed” by the moment on Monday. She’d put her son in competitive sports when he was 5 years old, she said.
“He had a plan, and I had a plan — and my plan was just to get him through high school, into college on a full ride,” Kennedy said. “He wanted to go D1. He had a lot of offers for D2, but he had a plan and a goal, and he never stopped until he got it.”
Hardin was calm throughout Monday’s announcement. He didn’t show any anxieties if he had any. Although he obliged the many questions reporters directed at him, it seemed like he preferred to let his proud coaches and his unending accomplishments speak on his behalf.
“Demetric Hardin,” McCray said at one point on Monday.
McCray was searching for any words that hadn’t already been said during this unconventional meeting about this unforgettable player.
“What else can we say about him?”
.jpeg)