najee harris

Najee Harris is shown after a practice session at The Opening (Drew Champlin / AL.com)

Najee Harris has been committed to Alabama for more than a year, but the five-star running back from Antioch, Calif., hasn't backed into the ranking as the nation's top prospect. Not even close.

The 6-foot-2, 227-pound Harris competed in Nike Football's The Opening Finals in Beaverton, Ore., for the second straight year last week. His team, Vapor Speed, won the 7-on-7 championship. Harris beat No. 2 prospect Dylan Moses in a highly-touted, but fun, matchup of cat and mouse (1-on-1) and had plenty of highlights in team and individual drills.

On the field, he's topped 5,000 yards in the last two seasons at Antioch. Off the field, he's just as elusive if he's not comfortable talking to you. He hasn't done many media interviews, but he's quick with his answers and well-spoken.

But he's extremely focused, and it shows.

"What motivates me?" Harris said at The Opening. "Put it like this, a lot motivates me."

Marcus Malu, who owns Malu Fitness, has trained Harris for the last three years. He was on hand in Beaverton supporting Harris. Other top Bay Area prospects he's trained include Michigan tight end Devin Asiasi and UCLA defensive tackle Boss Tagaloa.

"There's nobody that's going to outwork him," Malu said. "To this day, we still argue about, 'Hey man, you're doing too much.'"

Najee Harris is shown at The Opening (photo courtesy 247Sports)

Malu pointed to an argument the two had during Harris' sophomore year. After a tough workout, Harris didn't want to get in the ice bath, which is used to reduce swelling and soreness.

"He said, 'I don't want to do this,'" Malu said. "I said, 'You're going to pull a muscle, somebody else will get a star. Somebody else will get recognition and you'll be hurt.'

"And guess what? He got the ice bath and now he loves the ice bath."

When Harris committed on April 18, 2015, on a trip to Alabama's spring game, questions immediately started coming on when he might back off. So far, that hasn't happened even though he's taken other visits and other schools are coming hard.

Malu and Harris both said that they are big fans of Alabama strength and conditioning coach Scott Cochran. Malu was able to meet Cochran - "my idol, that's my dude right there" - on a trip to Alabama last year with Harris.

"The strength coach should be your best friend when you go to college," Harris said. "I was asking him for motivational videos to motivate me. Me and him are close."

Malu said one of Harris' gifts on the field is seeing a play develop before it happens. But that's a result of the work he's put in off the field.

"When you get somebody that wants to grind, it's over," Malu said. "He's been so humble. With his work ethic and how humble he's been, that's the thing I always tell people about him."

More from Harris at The Opening

He was aware of a popular "NajeeHarrisRB" Twitter account, but it was fake. "I think it's deactivated (he's right). I do have instagram, (najee_harris, a private account with 12,800 followers). Not NajeeHarrisRB2, just plain Najee Harris," later adding, "I don't even know what a trending topic is."

Of the Alabama commits, Harris speaks most with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood and linebacker VanDarius Cowan. He lets them handle all the recruiting of other prospects. "All them are my guys. They always love to compete because that's what you need at the next level. Nothing's going to be handed to you. You've got to compete, that's what i like about all of them, they compete and they are humble."

He's met fellow Alabama running back commit Brian Robinson once and is aware Alabama may sign three backs in the class (

Harris probably isn't taking other visits this summer and was even non-committal about taking official visits this fall. He's on track to be an early graduate, but now is more focused on spending time with his high school team. "I've been away from my team for so long so I don't think I'm going to do too much stuff," he said. "I want to get used to my team before we play."

And until he enrolls in college, Malu is right there making sure he works hard and stays humble.

"We just try to do the little things," Malu said. "When he gets to the next level, his strength coach will make sure he gets to that following level. Everybody has a role and my role is to make sure he stays humble. I take him to church with me. That's all of our kids.

"People ask me why I do that. If he doesn't stay grounded, with all the doors that's opened up, it could be real easy to be just like any other athlete."

Check out Harris' 2015 season highlights.