Heban sets his sights on the NFL

IU alumnus Greg Heban arrived in Bloomington in 2009 as a pitcher for the Hoosier baseball team. Four and a half years later, he is at Fit Speed Athletic Performance in Weston, Fla. to train for the 2014 NFL Draft alongside Chicago Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall and former All-Pro wide receiver Chad Johnson.

“It’s unbelievable,” he said, when reflecting on where his athletic career at IU has taken him. “It’s been absolutely an incredible journey and hopefully I can continue to build and continue to strive to be the best that I can be. I credit a lot to the IU coaches that were there that helped me become who I am.”

Heban joined the IU football team as a walk-on during preseason camp in 2010 and he made an immediate impact for the Hoosiers.

He was named IU Special Teams Player of the Week six times and he was one of the Hoosiers’ Special Teams Players of the Year. The Muncie, Ind. native received attention from outside of the state of Indiana as he was an ESPN.com All-Freshman team selection and an Academic All-Big Ten honoree.

After Heban graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in exercise science last May, he then exhausted his athletic eligibility last fall. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound safety, who was named one of the 2013 team captains at IU’s post-season banquet, anchored the Hoosiers’ defense, finishing with 275 tackles and nine interceptions in his career.

Heban said all of the players took some time off following IU’s 56-36 victory against Purdue in the Old Oaken Bucket game, which was the Hoosiers’ regular season finale.

“We all definitely took maybe a couple days to a week to kind of rest our bodies from how long and gruesome the season can be,” he said.

However, Heban said he didn’t take too much time off in order to keep his legs and his body in shape. Even though his college career is in the rearview mirror, Heban’s playing days aren’t over.

He is pursuing his dream of playing in the NFL.

After IU’s win in the Bucket game, Heban said he thought training for IU’s pro day was something that he had to do.

“If I don’t do it, I’m going to regret it in the end,” he said.

On Jan. 7, Heban signed with John Hernandez and Agency Athlete in what he described as a “crazy” process. The company is a “full-service international sports management agency with several divisions covering all professional sports,” according to its website.

“I never thought I’d actually pick out an agent,” he said. “Maybe one would contact me and that would be the guy but five or six agents have contacted me. Me and my dad did a lot of research on all the agents and the companies. I just kind of feel like Agency Athlete and John Hernandez was a great fit for me.”

After signing an agent, the next step for Heban is to train for IU’s pro day and if he earns an invitation, the NFL Combine.

Heban arrived at Fit Speed on Saturday. He joins former IU wide receivers Cody Latimer and Kofi Hughes, who have been training there since December.

Heban, who begins his training on Monday, said he saw his former teammates training with players from other schools when he arrived at the facility.

“It just looked like a great atmosphere,” he said. “They have Brandon Marshall coming in and Chad Ochocinco training there too so we’re going to be training with some of the best guys in the league.”

Heban said Agency Athlete and Fit Speed Athletic Performance go hand-in-hand in improving his draft stock. He said his biggest focus is on training to achieve good scores on the Combine drills. Meanwhile, Hernandez will work on publicizing Heban.

“John Hernandez and Agency Athlete do a great job of getting your name out there to people with the marketing division,” he said. “I think that’s actually the first thing is getting your name out there and then once you get your name out there, getting scouts to look at you a little more.”

Heban said all of the time and effort put into his training and marketing will come down to IU’s pro day.

“It comes down to those days,” he said. “Just trying to show out.”

Follow football reporter Andy Wittry on Twitter @AndyWittry