How 2 Mizzou wide receivers found themselves working out with NBA star James Harden
Missouri Tigers wide receivers Damon Hazelton and CJ Boone were going through another day of workouts in Bellaire, Texas, a suburb of Houston, when a guest suddenly appeared.
Their Houston-based trainer, Justin Allen, told them to wait a quick second ... NBA superstar and Houston Rockets guard James Harden was about to join their workout.
Hazelton and Boone waited a few minutes and wondered if Allen was telling the truth. As the heat bore down on them, Harden pulled up in a Mercedes G-wagon, ready to get in some conditioning work.
“(Harden) just spoke to everybody, asking where we play and stuff like that,” Boone told The Star. “We just got to working. We all just start grinding. He’s a real down-to-earth person. It was a cool time, good experience.”
Harden had scheduled an appointment with Allen at the same time the trainer was working with Hazelton and Boone, so the combined workout was a natural. But that wasn’t the only time the Mizzou receivers would work out with the NBA star — Boone said they probably trained with Harden three or four times over the summer.
Hazelton, whose mom lives in Houston, had been the first point of contact. The grad-transfer wideout said he reached out to Allen about two years ago via social media about working with him. It also was not the first time Hazelton had worked out with a professional star: he and Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. have trained together in the past.
“Harden is a great guy, standup guy, so he was very welcome,” Hazelton said. “He wanted to train with us and we were doing conditioning and drills and stuff like that. So it went really well.”
Boone, a St. Louis native, made his way to Houston after Hazelton extended an open invitation to teammates to come train with him. Boone bought a plane ticket to Houston that day, scheduled to leave the day after that.
Boone didn’t just fly down for a workout or two — he stayed in Houston with Hazelton for about a month. They worked out every single day in Texas, their only off-day coming when Boone left for the plane ride home.
The duo bonded over the summer, and that relationship is now bleeding into Mizzou’s preseason football camp, which started this week. Boone said he contacted Hazelton before they met on social media because he wanted Hazelton to know he’s got a home in Columbia.
Boone said he picks Hazelton’s brain all the time when it comes to the wide receiver position. While Boone was a highly rated recruit, he said he didn’t start playing football until his freshman year of high school.
Compared to a receiver like Hazelton, a two-time All-ACC honoree, Boone said he’s learned a lot from a guy he views as an “older brother.” It helps that Boone looks at Hazelton’s mother like a “second mom” after spending a month in Houston with her and Hazelton.
“(Hazelton) just kind of taught me some stuff and just working releases and giving me that mindset also to be great and to make sacrifices for your family,” Boone said. “Damon Hazelton is a real good person, and I feel like if everybody gets a chance to talk to him off-field, you realize he’s a good guy.”
Aside from their on-field work together, Boone found success in Houston via another format: YouTube.
He posted a video on Feb. 19, entitled “The REAL Day in A Life Of a D1 Student Athlete (2020),” on YouTube. It follows Boone from his 5 a.m. wakeup to workouts, classes and what he does throughout the day.
When he initially published it, Boone said, it didn’t generate much buzz. But then it started blowing up in Houston, and now the video has more than 115,000 views and 150 comments. Hazelton said Boone needs to continue making that kind of content — there seems to be a demand for it.
Boone, though, said he’s taking it easy on the content creation during training camp and instead focusing on remaining dialed in with football. He said he does have plans for some game-day experiences, though, pending the season starts as scheduled amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The wide receiver said he realizes social interaction — showing the behind-the-scenes life of an SEC student-athlete — can help with recruiting and fan engagement.
“As far as like YouTube and social media and stuff and all that, I’ve always been into it,” Boone said. “I’ve been doing YouTube and stuff since I was like 8 in front of the webcam. But I always get it off and on. I’m also one of those people that are just enjoying the moment as it’s happening.”