PISCATAWAY – If Jawuan Harris was more apprehensive than most of his Rutgers football teammates about meeting their new coach, it’s only because he had more on the line.

Harris arrived at Rutgers under an agreement between former football coach Kyle Flood and baseball coach Joe Litterio that allows him to be the nearly extinct Rutgers two-sport athlete.

Would that arrangement still hold with Chris Ash replacing Flood?

“I was definitely worried,” Harris said. “As soon as I found out that Coach Ash had the new job I had to talk to him. He didn’t really know me so he came off kind of stern. He wanted to make sure I would be at the mandatory meetings and keep my grades up, but he was all for it.”

So Harris will be with the baseball team Feb. 19 when it opens the season with a three-game series at Miami, about 30 minutes from the true freshman’s home in Pembroke Pines, Fla.

Next month brings a trip to Florida Atlantic, where Harris once committed as a football-only recruit.

“I’ve been playing both sports since the age of 7,” Harris said. “I didn’t feel like I could drop one right now. My dedication and passion for both pushed me to thrive and keep going. I definitely did feel like I could do it, and now that I am doing it I feel even more confident that it’s doable.”

Harris likely would have been in line to play on the gridiron in the fall – especially with some midseason depth concerns at wide receiver – but a knee injury suffered in training camp caused him to miss enough time that redshirting became the smarter alternative.

By the time the 5-foot-11, 190-pound speedster felt completely healthy again, it was time to get in the batting cages and begin competing to be the starting left fielder.

“I think I’ve been progressing pretty fast and feeling comfortable,” Harris said. “The coaching staff helped me out a lot with extra work here and there to get me to where I am now and the team embraced me.”

Harris was ticketed for Rutgers before he hit .440 with a Broward County-best 44 stolen bases as a senior at St. Thomas Aquinas High School. He earned private workouts with multiple MLB franchises and there was thought he could turn pro if picked high in the First-Year Player Draft.

“He has very natural athletic ability … and he’s adjusted very well to college pitching,” Litterio said. “I’m excited to see what he can do. His speed brings a different dimension to his game and our game. He’s put down three or four base hit bunts in the small sample we’ve had outside.”

One of those came in his very first at-bat of intra-squad scrimmages.

“It was a good bunt, but there was no chance of getting him,” Litterio said. “It showed his speed. You kind of stepped back and said, ‘This kid’s got something.’”

Because he is playing baseball, Harris is not participating in the “boot camp” winter conditioning workouts for football players. No one would accuse him of taking the easy route, however.

Harris is enrolled on a pre-med academic track, taking mostly general education classes thus far.

“Depending on the day, I’ll do a class in the morning, maybe a football meeting here or there with the new coaches, and then I have (baseball) practice around 1:30 and class after,” Harris said. “It was tough. I got through it. I had to work a little harder to keep my grades up and maintain them.”

Litterio said Ash “has been great” about honoring the commitment Rutgers made to Harris, who appears to fit the mold of well-rounded recruit that the new staff sought in its first class.

“It takes a lot to get adjusted to college and the academics at Rutgers as a freshman,” Litterio said. “He’s been able to do that with playing two sports. That’s something special kids can do.”

As Harris becomes a regular around the Hale Center training complex, fellow athletes are starting to express shock that he plays two sports. The last Rutgers athlete to double up in football and baseball is believed to be James Cann (1988-90).

“The football mentality helps you have an aggressive mentality at the plate or in the field and vice versa,” Harris said. “I feel being mentally prepared and thinking more in baseball helps me to analyze a defense in football.”

In a world of increasing one-sport specialization, Harris is old-school. As he matter-of-factly goes about everyday life, he gives off an aura that he is naïve to the uniqueness of what he is attempting.

“I have a calendar, but both the football team and baseball team send out reminders to make sure you are on time and on track with where you need to go,” Harris said. “That’s helped me.”

Staff Writer Ryan Dunleavy: rdunleavy@gannettnj.com