This past fall 2016 season, Brent Harwell, a junior at Magnet, began practicing with the volleyball team over the summer after having played club volleyball in a men’s league.  Brent traveled with Magnet’s team all the way to the state championship.  Despite his active participation, many people are unfamiliar with Mr. Harwell.  This week, I took some time to talk with Brent and gather some information on the student-athlete.

Fast Facts:

Brent has only been playing volleyball for two years, but he’s definitely not short on experience.  He has played both beach volleyball and indoor volleyball.  During indoor season Brent plays as a right side hitter.  When not hitting kills though, Brent hunts turkeys, fishes, spends time with Otter his dog, and works on AP Chemistry problems while baking spectacular cookie butter brownies.  He will be completing his thesis data collection over the summer under an MUSC grant in hopes of bioengineering a functional pacemaker.  Brent plans on pursuing a career as a surgeon and hopes to attend either Clemson or Duke and continue to play volleyball in his free time for enjoyment.

Most memorable story:

When Brent was around 11 years old, he and his parents were driving home from Florida.  They had crossed into South Carolina around 11 P.M. when they pulled off on the side of the road to use the bathroom and for his parents to switch spots driving.  Brent got out of the car to use the bathroom as well but when Brent turned around to get back in the car, it was gone.  Brent wandered down the highway until he came across a building for the South Carolina Department of Transportation.  Worried about being taken by “bad people,” he managed to climb under the fence of the DOT.  His parents, who figured he was just sleeping in the back seat, discovered his absence once they arrived home about 45 minutes later and immediately called the police.  As the police began their search, Brent emerged from the DOT and tried to flag down cars.  Eventually, Brent flagged down an elderly couple that notified the police they had found him and he was then returned to his parents.  Feel free to ask Brent any questions or maybe about another story or two.  You can catch Brent playing beach volleyball over the summer at the Santi’s restaurant in Mount Pleasant or at a Magnet home volleyball game this fall.