Self sees something special in guard Dajuan Harris
A season ago, Dajuan Harris, the 6-foot-1, 170-pound guard from Columbia, Mo., averaged 2.5 points, 1.2 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game. In 30 games, Harris shot 46.3 percent from the field, 56.3 percent from behind the arc, and 72.7 percent from the free-throw line.
This season, Harris is averaging 4.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game. He’s shooting 36.4 percent from the field, is 0-of-2 from behind the arc, and 0-of-1 from the free-throw line. Self, on Wednesday afternoon, talked at length about Harris.
“(His teams) Always win,” said Self. “Even in practice situations. I think that in our first 10 quarters of scrimmaging, his team was 10 and 0. I think he's got a great feel. I think guys like playing with him. I think he makes the game easier for others. I think he probably understands more how to play than a lot of other guys do. But I don't think that he's shown yet what a good player he is. I thought against Michigan State, he's pretty darn solid. I didn't think the other night he played near that well. He's not going to take a ton of chances. We have a better chance to get a shot every possession if he's that team's point guard. But somebody else can be the guy to score the ball or do something that gives the appearance, that that guy, that maybe he's outplaying him.
“The guy that's playing against him in three possessions could have six points and one have zero and one still totally control the game,” he added. “He's one of those kinds of guys. But I think there's a consistency factor that he's got to improve in and take better care of the basketball. I saw some carelessness here of late and we've talked about it, but he's just a good basketball player. He's not going to jump off the page at anybody, but you're just going to look up at the end of the day and just say, "God, they're just better with him on the court."
When asked if Harris reminds him of any past players, Self had plenty to say about his talented point guard and how he compares to others that came before him.
“Yeah,” said Self. “I know what you mean. Somebody that can make a team a lot better without scoring the ball. You can maybe make a case for Travis Releford, like that a little bit. I'm just going off memory here. So, this is off the top of my head. Positively make a case for Aaron Miles, positively, maybe more so than any other guard we had. Whether Aaron scored two points or 16 points, it makes no difference. He just needs to be out there.
“Yeah, Russell (Robinson),” he added. “Yeah. Russell's a good call. Russell's a really good call, Chris (Theisen, SID). I told our team this. The best high school player, I believe that we've recruited still is Sherron Collins. And he didn't start, because Russell, the team was just really good when Russell was in the game. But it wasn't because Sherron did anything wrong. Sherron, as you guys remember, he broke his foot. We got on a roll, so Sherron settled into that six-man role, which was perfect for our team. As opposed to maybe Sherron starting and Russell not. But Russell was one of those kids that no matter what, God dang, there's just a security blanket out there when he was the game. That's a good call, Chris.”
A season ago, Dajuan Harris, the 6-foot-1, 170-pound guard from Columbia, Mo., averaged 2.5 points, 1.2 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game. In 30 games, Harris shot 46.3 percent from the field, 56.3 percent from behind the arc, and 72.7 percent from the free-throw line.
This season, Harris is averaging 4.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game. He’s shooting 36.4 percent from the field, is 0-of-2 from behind the arc, and 0-of-1 from the free-throw line. Self, on Wednesday afternoon, talked at length about Harris.
“(His teams) Always win,” said Self. “Even in practice situations. I think that in our first 10 quarters of scrimmaging, his team was 10 and 0. I think he's got a great feel. I think guys like playing with him. I think he makes the game easier for others. I think he probably understands more how to play than a lot of other guys do. But I don't think that he's shown yet what a good player he is. I thought against Michigan State, he's pretty darn solid. I didn't think the other night he played near that well. He's not going to take a ton of chances. We have a better chance to get a shot every possession if he's that team's point guard. But somebody else can be the guy to score the ball or do something that gives the appearance, that that guy, that maybe he's outplaying him.
“The guy that's playing against him in three possessions could have six points and one have zero and one still totally control the game,” he added. “He's one of those kinds of guys. But I think there's a consistency factor that he's got to improve in and take better care of the basketball. I saw some carelessness here of late and we've talked about it, but he's just a good basketball player. He's not going to jump off the page at anybody, but you're just going to look up at the end of the day and just say, "God, they're just better with him on the court."
When asked if Harris reminds him of any past players, Self had plenty to say about his talented point guard and how he compares to others that came before him.
“Yeah,” said Self. “I know what you mean. Somebody that can make a team a lot better without scoring the ball. You can maybe make a case for Travis Releford, like that a little bit. I'm just going off memory here. So, this is off the top of my head. Positively make a case for Aaron Miles, positively, maybe more so than any other guard we had. Whether Aaron scored two points or 16 points, it makes no difference. He just needs to be out there.
“Yeah, Russell (Robinson),” he added. “Yeah. Russell's a good call. Russell's a really good call, Chris (Theisen, SID). I told our team this. The best high school player, I believe that we've recruited still is Sherron Collins. And he didn't start, because Russell, the team was just really good when Russell was in the game. But it wasn't because Sherron did anything wrong. Sherron, as you guys remember, he broke his foot. We got on a roll, so Sherron settled into that six-man role, which was perfect for our team. As opposed to maybe Sherron starting and Russell not. But Russell was one of those kids that no matter what, God dang, there's just a security blanket out there when he was the game. That's a good call, Chris.”
