HATTIESBURG — On Dec. 30, Southern Miss found themselves in an unlikely battle against crosstown NAIA school William Carey. For a Division I program it wasn’t the cleanest game, and the visiting Crusaders even led in the second half against the Golden Eagles when head basketball coach Jay Ladner pulled his leader on the floor aside.
“I told him ‘Do not let us lose this game,’” he remarked in his postgame comments. “And, of course, he responded with another really incredible effort, incredibly consistent.”
Harris scored a season-high 32 points with 23 rebounds in the 80-70 win.
Harris currently has nine double-doubles this season, averaging 16.4 points and 11.2 rebounds per game while shooting 50.3% in a starring role for the Golden Eagles.
His game has developed in many ways since his days as a guard at Columbus High School, where he helped the Falcons win two state championships.
Harris stood about 6-feet as a sophomore when the Falcons won their first state title, and grew alongside Robert Woodard II to stand tall as a senior for their second title in 2018. He finished his career with 20 second-half points to lead the Falcons to victory in the championship game, earning himself MVP honors in the process.
Harris wasn’t the same bruising rebounder who takes the floor in Hattiesburg these days, but his work ethic and drive put his coaches on notice early in his varsity career.
“He wasn’t very outgoing, outspoken or anything like that, but over time he grew into his body a little more and got stronger, faster, and more athletic,” Falcons head coach Phillip Morris said of his former pupil. “He just turned out to be a big piece for us over the years.”
Harris now stands 6-foot-7 as a graduate senior at Southern Miss. It’s been a long seven years since he kissed the golden ball in Jackson, and he’s undergone plenty of personal growth as well as physical.
“ I learned a lot from them just being so young,” Harris said, looking back on his time as a Falcon. “I was learning the game, learning myself as a person, and they took a lot of points in my game and they helped me as far as, like, just seeing the overall game, my offense, my defense, just my overall body of work in terms of physicality, just being an athletic player. They helped me improve my whole game and I really enjoyed the experience of being able to go to the championship with them.”
Difficult beginnings
Harris made his way to Southwest Mississippi Community College after flying under the radar as a recruit but was given the chance to transfer to Southern Miss after dominant performances at a preseason showcase.
Former USM head coach Doc Sadler extended an offer, but Harris suffered a season-ending knee injury. He had to recover from torn ligaments in his knee upon arrival in Hattiesburg, and by the time he was ready to play again, Sadler had moved on.
“It kind of took him a little while longer than he thought it would,” Morris said. “It wasn’t the surgery, but it’s just the recovery from it and the mental aspect, the physical aspect, everything took longer than what it should have and it was maybe a year, year-and-a-half to just get back to himself.”
It was a setback physically, but Harris embraced the opportunity to impress Ladner, who took over at Southern Miss before the 2019 season. Eventually, he settled into a forward role, a slight change from his days as a guard, but he was willing to do whatever to get back to playing. After redshirting and seeing role-player minutes, Harris became a key player in 2022-23. Then came an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.
Harris left Southern Miss to pursue an SEC opportunity at Arkansas, but he didn’t see the court as much as he had hoped in the program’s final season under Eric Musselman. He averaged just under five minutes a game, and once Musselman left for USC, the Razorbacks underwent a total program change, remaking their roster and coaching staff.
A welcome home
Once again, Harris was looking to bounce back, and he was welcomed by Ladner back at Southern Miss.
“We have a great relationship,” Harris said of Ladner, remarking on the time spent rehabbing his knee and earning the trust of his coach over his years in Hattiesburg.
“I was allowed to stay and build a relationship with him. I didn’t play right away, but he gave me a chance to rehabilitate my injury, get back healthy, build myself and my confidence up, and we still have a good relationship to this day and a lot of success between me and him.”
Harris is thriving after years of battling injury and searching for the right role and opportunities to play. It wasn’t an easy experience, but it was one he was able to navigate because of the ties he’s built. He looked to his family and his coaches past and present, and his hard work is paying off on the court.
“You have to be whole-minded to be able to go through what you’re going through as far as what you’re going to encounter and as far as success,” Harris told The Dispatch. “Because you never know how it’ll come, you know. I never knew I was going to get hurt, but it happens and I just went off a lot of stuff that my coaches, teachers and parents taught me throughout my career. It all helped me to continue working and to stay on my journey.”
Harris continues to work on his game in Columbus whenever he had time off, and over the holidays he spent time in the gym working with some of the current group of Falcons, imparting some of the know-how that helped him to where he is today.
“He got in the gym and did some workouts, and he worked out with our young kid, David Verdell,” Morris said. “They worked out together for a couple of days, man. So it was a good experience with him, just to get both of them in and for David to be able to see that type of player and the way he works and who knows what it’s going to take to play at that next level.”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 33 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 33 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
