2013 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME MEN’S SOCCER
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
NOVEMBER 28, 2013
HARRY SHIPP: The Wandering
WIZARD
OF NOTRE DAME SOCCER -- Pete LaFleur
Some day, a movie needs to be made about the life of Harrison “Harry” Shipp, the unassuming Notre Dame senior men’s soccer player who was recognized as the Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America of the Year® for Division I men’s soccer, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Such a movie would need to have the feel of various epic films over the years that have depicted unique individuals, people of distinction who somehow seem to be operating on a different plane than the rest of us. You know the type of characters we are talking about here - those who leave you scratching your head, wondering: “Is this guy for real?” We’re thinking something combining certain elements of “Forrest Gump,” “Benjamin Button,” “Rain Man” and Russell Crowe’s “A Beautiful Mind.” Throw in some of “Rudy” for the Notre Dame angle and diminutive character story line, maybe even add something akin to “Kicking and Screaming” for the early-life and comedic sequences (hey, you’ve got to have soccer in there
somewhere, and Will Ferrell in anything is box office gold, right?). If you ever saw the old Peter Sellers classic, “Being There,” some aspects of that film even could work, portraying a central figure who rarely speaks - but when he does, his words make a deep impact.
Chicago-area native has compiled virtually all A grades en route to a 3.88 cumulative gradepoint average, as a finance major in the nation’s top-ranked undergraduate business school. Only a couple A-minus marks and four B-plus grades have prevented him from attaining a 4.0.
And for the title of such a movie? Well, Shipp is the type of individual who has attracted various nicknames over the years. Legendary Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark has attached the moniker of “Wizard” to Shipp, in reference to his magical play with the ball at his feet. A self-described nomad at times, Shipp also has amazed his teammates off the field, with some even coining the name “The Wanderer” to describe the senior forward’s uncanny ability to seemingly float in and out of his own life and the lives of others.
The 5-foot-9 playmaking frontrunner is the seventh individual (first since 2003) in Notre Dame’s storied athletics history to be recognized with a CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year designation. A few weeks earlier, the nation’s premier collegiate soccer league, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), recognized Shipp as its Offensive Player of the Year, a huge honor for first-year ACC team Notre Dame.
So we give you “Harrison Shipp: The Wandering Wizard of Notre Dame Soccer,” coming soon to a theater near you. But, in all seriousness, Shipp has weaved his own epic tale as a Notre Dame student-athlete. Set to graduate in only three-and-a-half years, the
Now, Shipp’s days as a student-athlete are ticking down, but the team tri-captain still can help direct one final, major accomplishment for Bobby Clark’s team. The Irish, seeded third in the 2013 NCAA Championship, stand two games away from the college soccer promised land: playing on the final weekend in the College Cup, as one of four teams left standing.