Tuesday, Sept. 30, 1997 | 2:48 a.m.
PROVO, Utah -- Las Vegan Terrence Harvey, a former All-State player for Green Valley High School and a starting cornerback for 24th-ranked Brigham Young, was killed in a freeway rollover that injured two teammates.
"We are shocked and saddened by the loss of an outstanding young man who had such great promise," BYU coach LaVell Edwards said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family."
Harvey, a 20-year-old sophomore, was pronounced dead at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center following the accident on Interstate 15 near Provo about 9 p.m. Monday, the Utah Highway Patrol said.
Treated for minor injuries and released was junior defensive back Tony Fields, 20, also of Las Vegas. Fields was Harvey's teammate at Green Valley and Victor Valley Community College.
Freshman defensive back Roderick Foreman, a 17-year-old from Los Angeles, was in fair condition with an injured hand and likely will have surgery today, said hospital spokesman Anton Garrity.
Garrity said Harvey died from severe bruising of the heart.
According to Green Valley head football coach Larry Thomas, Harvey underwent open-heart surgery between his sophomore and junior years.
"No one ever really said why he had the chest surgery," Thomas said today. "He missed a year and a half, but came back and played. Coming back after open-heart surgery and everything he went through shows you how much the game meant to him."
In addition to football, the 6-foot, 175-pound Harvey also lettered in basketball and track at Green Valley. He was a member of two state champion relay teams with Fields -- 4x100 meters and 4x200 meters -- and also ran the 300-meter hurdles.
He was highly recruited by UNLV, Arizona State, Florida State, Temple, Washington State and North Carolina.
"They saw him as a project," Thomas said. "They knew he was good enough to be a risk and develop him into a great player.
"He missed his full potential in high school because of the surgery, but he was an outstanding athlete and a hard worker."
Harvey played football last year at Victor Valley and joined BYU's program after the first game of the season as a walk-on. He had his first start for the Cougars Saturday in their overtime victory over Southern Methodist.
Harvey, Fields and Foreman were traveling between 80 and 90 mph in a Nissan Pathfinder when Fields, the driver, attempted to pass another vehicle on the right and lost control. The car rolled several times, ejecting Harvey, said a patrol dispatcher who asked not to be identified.
The dispatcher said it is too early to determine if alcohol was involved.
BYU plays instate rival Utah State Friday night in Provo. Harvey will be honored prior to kickoff with a brief memorial.
"For me and for Tony and all the kids (Harvey) played with, it seems strange," Thomas said. "With all the things they did in high school, with all the drive-by shootings and stuff like that that went on in Las Vegas in those days, and now as a coach you feel good they're going off to college ... life's not fair."
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