Naperville North’s Will Harvey collects rebounds like an aardvark vacuums up ants.
The 6-foot-3 junior center doesn’t grab every carom that comes his way, but it sometimes seems that way.
“He’s a tough, gritty kid,” Naperville North coach Gene Nolan said. “He’s strong, he has good hands and he pursues the ball.”
Harvey is capable of scoring, but that’s not his primary role. He has quickly developed a reputation for rebounding.
“I’d say that’s probably my thing — just go up there and grab the rebound,” Harvey said. “We’re a little smaller of a team, so you’ve got to play with that attitude and aggression.”
Harvey does it particularly well whenever the Huskies play Naperville Central. He had a career-high 13 rebounds in his crosstown debut on Dec. 13, helping Naperville North win 74-63.
That was merely a prelude to what happened in the rematch.
Harvey did not make a basket — he attempted only two shots — but he finished with six points and set a new career mark with 19 rebounds to lead the visiting Huskies to a 55-35 DuPage Valley Conference victory on Friday.
Junior guard Max Steele tallied a game-high 23 points for Naperville North (13-11, 3-4). But all anyone was talking about afterward was Harvey’s rebounding performance.
The 19 rebounds are the most by a player in Nolan’s seven-year tenure. Harvey’s last one against the Redhawks (7-16, 1-6), fittingly, came on the game’s final play.
“You love the crosstown game because it’s our archrival,” Harvey said. “I come out fired out every game.
“We saw the crowd. We saw the lights were up. We were really excited to go out there and play in front of all of Naperville and go against our archrivals.”
Harvey, who also knows this rivalry from football, went hard from the start. All of his scoring came from the free-throw line, where he was 6 of 8. Four of those free throws came in the first quarter after offensive rebounds. He had six boards in the opening quarter as the Huskies jumped out to a 13-5 lead.
“I’m so proud of him for getting 19 rebounds in a game,” Nolan said. “He goes after the ball, and he’s resilient. He’s resilient as a young man, and he’s resilient as a basketball player.”
Harvey, who is averaging 5.6 points and 7.3 rebounds, may be at the head of the class when it comes to his rebounding. But he also demonstrated class when asked how he dominates in the paint.
“Big shoutout to my guy Sam Ryan,” Harvey said. “He’s on the bench, plays JV. But every day in practice, he beats me up, and that’s the reason I’m able to go out and get the rebounds — because he’s made me better and better in practice.”
Ryan, a junior forward, gets minimal playing time. He makes maximum impact behind the scenes.
“I try to play my hardest for Will because I know for games like this it’s very important for all the starters to be ready, especially when there are moments where they have to get those rebounds,” Ryan said. “Will with 19 tonight, that is unbelievable. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that in my lifetime.”
Ryan actually downplayed his contribution to Harvey’s performance while echoing the praise Harvey sent his way.
“Will is a lot bigger than me,” Ryan said. “You can tell he’s in the weight room all the time, so I give credit to him.
“Ever since freshman year, he’ll get the rebound. I bet next year he’s going to be a good rebounder as well.”
Harvey already has improved in the past month.
“I’m probably way better,” Harvey said. “I attribute that to Sam Ryan for making me better in practice every single day.”
Ryan appreciated the sentiment.
“It’s awesome because he shouted me out, which surprised me,” Ryan said. “I like to see him doing good out there. I’m proud of him.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
