By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University junior football standout Jakobe Harmon is a long ways from home ... 741 miles to be exact.
But after three-plus years with the Ichabods, the 6-foot-3, 305-pound offensive center now feels like he has two homes -- Lithonia, Ga. (a suburb of Atlanta) and Topeka.
Junior Jakobe Harmon (63) returns to anchor Washburn's offensive line this fall after earning third-team All-MIAA honors in 2024. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Obviously, Harmon could have picked a school in or near Georgia to launch his college career, but Harmon, a third-team All-MIAA pick last season, said coming to Washburn was a pretty easy choice.
"It was honestly the atmosphere and the people that talked to me when they first recruited me here,'' said Harmon, one of 20 Georgia natives on the WU roster. "Between the players that talked to me on my visit and the coaches that talked to me, they made it feel like a family and just home.
"Topeka is a home and it's always going to be a home for me at this point. I've been here for four years now and I love it.''
After a redshirt season in 2022, Harmon has become a stalwart on the offensive line for the Ichabods over the past two seasons, seeing action in 18 games with 16 starts. Harmon started eight straight games for WU last season before missing the final three games due to injury.
The Ichabods posted a 3-8 record last fall, but Harmon said he and his teammates know that a big turnaround is possible after five of WU's losses a year ago were one-score decisions, including two one-point and two three-point heartbreakers.
"A small margin of error can change a lot of things and it comes down to one play almost,'' Harmon said. "You can count it up and there were one to two plays each game that could have changed or flipped those scores. But we've learned from that and we've grown from that and we've seen what that looks like from the other side, so we just need to flip that script and turn those losses into Ws.
"It's been our best summer as a collective. I feel the energy, I feel like we know what we want as a group and we settled down and just locked in on getting bigger, stronger and faster this year. That's been our goal this summer.''
Washburn, picked ninth in both MIAA preseason polls, will begin its first season under new head coach Zach Watkins on Aug. 30 at home against non-conference foe Truman State.
The Ichabods will open MIAA play on Sept. 6 at home against Northwest Missouri.
Both games are set for 1 p.m. kickoffs.
