The college recruiting process provides those twists and turns.
In the end, both have solid college destinations, Henry to Syracuse, and Harris, the gifted 6-1, 180-pound wide receiver/safety, to Temple.
Harris committed to new Temple coach K.C. Keeler last week, and Henry gave his verbal commitment to Syracuse head coach Fran Brown in early May.
Both are settled and now ready to move forward.
This past season on a field filled with star players like Penn State-bound running back Jabree Wallace-Coleman and Maryland-bound defensive end Zahir Mathis, Harris may have been the best player on the field that day, when Imhotep Charter came back to beat Chester, 28-24, despite Harris intercepting three passes, and scoring two touchdowns, one an 83-yard kickoff return and the other a 4-yard TD reception from younger twin brother and Clippers’ quarterback Jalen.
Temple got a steal in Harris, who was being recruited by Eastern Michigan, UConn, Syracuse, East Carolina, UMass Kent State. He is projected to be a free safety.
“Staying home and being part of the rebuild at Temple to get it where it was a few years ago was a deciding factor,” said Harris, who is 27 minutes younger than Jalen and returns as one of the best players in Southeastern Pennsylvania this coming season. “The plan is to play quickly there. I was being recruited mostly for defense, even though Kent State was looking at me as a receiver. I did think about playing both ways, but right now, I want to focus on playing safety at Temple. We have some things to finish this year.
“The recruiting, to be honest about it, was very stressful. I had some sleepless nights. Just getting it out of the way and committing before the season was something that I had to do. I wanted to go into my senior season knowing where I was going, not figuring something out later. This will be it for Jalen and me. It will be hard not playing with him on my team. We were always on the same team together growing up, but right now, our focus is on winning and winning a state championship. We can be undefeated this year.”
Chester went 9-2 last season, winning the Del-Val League and losing to the eventual District 1 Class 5A champion, West Chester Rustin, in the second round of the playoffs. With Daron and Jalen Harris back, along with Henry, 2025 promises to be a big history-making year for the Clippers, who reached the District 1 Class 5A championship two years ago, losing to Strath Haven.
Now that his star player has peace of mind, Clippers’ coach Dennis Shaw can rest a little easy, too.
“We pride ourselves on getting guys into college, and our wins are predicated on where guys go on the next level,” Shaw said. “Daron can be a high school football player now, solidified in knowing where he is going. He doesn’t have to worry about anything else—just football. With Shemaj, coach Fran Brown told him last weekend, he is a pro waiting to happen. Coach Brown told Shemaj his ceiling is the highest of anyone coming into their 2026 class.
“Daron will have an opportunity to play as a freshman at Temple. His game will continue to grow, the same as Shemaj. There is still growth there in both of those guys.”
Henry is projected to be a left tackle but will go both ways this coming season. Henry, who carries a 3.6 GPA, is working on early admittance to Syracuse in January.
“Shemaj has everything together,” Dennis said. “We have big expectations for him.”
As does Henry for himself.
“This feels amazing to get the opportunity to play for coach Fran,” said Henry, who chose Syracuse over UMass and Temple. “I had a great experience when I went to Syracuse. They see me as a left tackle. Committing early is a load off my mind. I can enjoy playing my last high school year with my buddies, before going to Orange Nation. This year, we’re working on being better and being consistent. We’re going to make sure we don’t go out like we did last year. I’m taking summer classes now to get to work early and start towards playing. Syracuse blew everyone out of the water. They build a relationship with me and checked on me every day. It was there.
“I would like to get a little lighter for this season, down to 300 or 315. I know I won’t come off the field. I need to get my body right and in shape, making sure I’m in great condition. We can be pretty great this season the way we’re going. We have stars who are about to shine. And we have Daron and Jalen, who are winners. We have some unfinished business this year. Winning the Del-Val League title is not enough. We want bigger. We have everything to do it, too.”
Joseph Santoliquito is a hall of fame, award-winning sportswriter who has been covering high school football since 1992 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter @JSantoliquito [twitter.com]. Follow EasternPAFootball.com on Twitter @EPAFootball [twitter.com].
