Basketball is not all that Harper Dunn does well

Sep. 11—The day for Harper Dunn, and Drew, began early Wednesday, far from all the food and rides on the property.

The morning start had nothing to do with volleyball, the sport she currently plays at Corona High School. And it had nothing to do with basketball, the sport that has earned her two dozen prominent Division I offers, even though she hasn't even yet played a minute of her sophomore season.

This is the other side of Dunn, the agriculture side, a side that very much completes her. Yes, the 6-foot-6 Dunn is one of the most recruited 10th-grade basketball players in the country, but agriculture is not only just as valuable to her as anything else, but is, she said, a soothing communal experience.

"I think no matter what I do, agriculture is who I am. It keeps me grounded as a player and a person," she said.

She is spending this week not at school but at the New Mexico State Fair in Albuquerque. She regularly shows steers at competitions, and she and Drew, her humongous, 18-month-old steer, appeared Wednesday at the Junior Livestock Pavilion.

And Dunn — well, Drew perhaps as much as Dunn — achieved something special. Her 1,433-pound black steer was chosen the fair's "Grand Champion", which is something akin to a dog winning Best in Show at Westminster.

Drew placed first in the crossbreed heavyweight division, and first overall among crossbreeds. Later, Dunn and Drew were put in a pen with the first-place steers in the other divisions, and moments later were tabbed the overall champion.

"This is the best I've ever done at a show," Dunn said. "I'm just really grateful, honestly, for everybody; 'cause this, the shower, they get credit, but there are so many great people around."

Dunn has been working with Drew since December, and clearly impressed the fair's judge.

And to hear Dunn tell it, showing a steer, and she has done a dozen or so times in her life, doesn't compare to stepping on a basketball floor. It's more nerve-wracking, she said.

"This, any day of the week," she said, asked which makes her more nervous. "It's a lot of build up, if we're being honest. It's a lot of work for about two minutes."

But Drew, she said, is a special steer, and she had a feeling he'd do well.

"We were really hoping for it," Dunn said. "Steer shows, you can never count on anything. Someone's steer can show better that day, there's a bit of luck to it."

This half of her world has its own name, her father, Blair Dunn, said. Show Steer World. Which is not terribly far removed from Club Basketball World, a universe Harper Dunn also belongs to.

"It's very similar," Harper said. "It's super competitive. People spend their lives working in show cattle. It really does become your whole life very quickly."

This week is her biggest show of the year, and she'll be spending the rest of the week in and around the fairgrounds to be near Drew. It was Drew who got a nice pat inside the pen, indicating he was the "Grand Champion."

"When he slapped him it was like, wait, hold on, it was me?" Dunn said.

Many colleges in the farm belt are among those that might appeal to Dunn whenever she makes a decision on basketball.

"Generally, they're my people," Dunn said. "Our values are generally the same; we value the hard work part of it. No matter what I do, I'll keep agriculture in my life."

Going forward, it will be with another steer. Unfortunately for Drew, this pretty much ends his days as a show animal. Come Friday, he'll be put up for auction, and as the "Grand Champion" he's expected to fetch a pretty decent price.

Understandably, Drew, content as he looked in the post-show picture parade, declined to comment.

"Unfortunately (this is it for us)," Dunn said. "I never thought anyone would beat last year's steer as my favorite, but he has. He's got these great ears, and this big, sweet personality to go along with it."