Kason Harrell had his heart set on playing Division I basketball, so the Hempfield star almost had it broken.

The University of North Carolina-Wilmington offered Harrell a scholarship, but by the time he was ready to accept someone else had already committed.

Then IPFW called.

A school that sounds like an acronym for a labor union.

“It was strange because I’d never heard of them before,” said Harrell, a 6-foot-3 guard who averaged 23.9 points as a junior. “When they offered, at first I was kind of hesitant.

“I thought it was a Division II school, and I really wanted to go Division I unless I had no other option. I was like, ‘Where is that? What conference do they play in?’ When I started doing some research, I found they were a good school athletically and academically and I started feeling better about it. ”

Harrell committed this past weekend to IPFW, formally known as Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne.

The Mastodons have been a D-I program since 2001-02 and a member of the Summit League since 2007-08. They were 25-11 last season, and finished tied for second in the league.

“It’s Indiana. It’s basketball,” Hempfield coach Bill Swan said. “It’s pretty neat.”

Having an open mind, whether it was about his college choice or playing the point, has proved beneficial for Harrell.

It helped that he hit it off not only with IPFW assistant Ben Botts but Mastodons coach Jon Coffman.

“Kason, that’s one of his calling cards,” Swan said. “He’s probably one of the best basketball players in the WPIAL, but he’s also one of the nicest kids.”

One with a happy heart.

Kevin Gorman is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at kgorman@tribweb.com or via Twitter @KGorman_Trib.

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