A new foundation established in September 2024 seeks to honor the life of hometown football and baseball legend Adam Harvey. The Adam Harvey Baseball Foundation strives to aid baseball athletes at Celina High School through bridging the financial gap for expensive equipment such as bats, gloves, and game balls. Foundation Chairman and President Danny Stanphill says the executive board is working to “keep kids involved in the game by helping them pursue their baseball dreams” and to play unhindered by rising costs.
According to his mom, Janet Harvey, Adam was a skilled batter even at a young age. She recalls him making a big impression on high school kids at the batting cages as young as 6 years old. Adam Harvey began his sports career as a CHS freshman on varsity football and went on to help the Bobcats win four consecutive state championships. He was named the Most Valuable Player twice, and Adam was named Sonic Male Athlete of the year for 2002 along with being named Dave Campbell’s Texas Football 2001 Player of the Year. Although busy with football, Adam helped lead the Bobcats baseball team to four consecutive district championships and their first state championship and was named the MVP. He holds the records for the most homeruns (36) at Celina High School.
Declining a 32nd round pick offer by the Chicago Cubs and a football scholarship from Oklahoma State University, Adam played baseball for Grayson College and then transferred to New Mexico State to play for the Aggies. In his first appearance as designated hitter against Arizona State, he hit two homeruns and in 2005 he hit over .300 and had double digit home runs. He was selected second team all-conference in the WAC.
Mrs. Harvey recalls Adam “excelled so much in both sports and he had the biggest heart. Everybody loved Adam. He was Mr. Social and friendly to everybody." Adam inspired teammates, friends, and family. His nephew Jackson plays baseball as a college freshman at Murray State and attributes his skills and progress to the personal attention Adam dedicated to working with him at the batting cages, and Jackson recognizes Adam’s consistent encouragement to pursue his baseball dreams. Jackson’s brother, Ryder, also follows in his uncle’s footsteps by playing baseball at Prosper High School.
A first initiative of the Adam Harvey Baseball Foundation was to award a scholarship to former Celina High School student Conner Rabbe who is involved in the baseball program at Odessa College. Conner is reported to be a student that the Celina community can be proud of and reflects Adam’s hard work, dedication, and love for baseball. The Foundation Board collaborated with CHS Head Baseball Coach Troy McCartney to select Conner as the first recipient of the Adam Harvey Baseball Foundation Scholarship with the goal to support a student who is pursuing baseball in college and is working to fund their own tuition.
In the future, the Adam Harvey Baseball Foundation has big goals to expand its support of baseball athletes across all ages in the Celina community by building strong players from the youngest ages. Look for fundraising and investment opportunities on the soon-to-be-released website or contact Chairman/President Danny Stanphill at dannystanphill@gmail.com and financial donations can be made now at Lamar National Bank for the “Adam Harvey Scholarship Fund."