The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1177236
60 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BASKETBALL PREVIEW 2019-20 3.1 Last season, Harris impressed with his defen- sive capabilities. He had 22 steals in 30 games. On the surface, it may not be an overly impres- sive number that ranked just sixth best on the team. However, Harris played 9.5 minutes per contest. His steals aver- age for a full 40-minute game would have been 3.1. If you applied that math to all the other players on last year's team, none would have averaged more than Markell Johnson's 1.7 steals. ANALYSIS Last season, Harris' role was to be starter Markell Johnson's backup, but when Johnson missed games with an injury, head coach Kevin Keatts instead chose to start Braxton Beverly at the point guard position. Harris is hoping for increased responsibili- ties this season. He is a gifted defender with his size and athleti- cism, but the key for him will be proving his value on offense against better competition. He made just 4 of 19 shots (21.1 percent) in the 12 ACC regular season games plus two confer- ence tournament contests he played in. CAREER HIGHLIGHTS Received a waiver to play a full season last year after transfer- ring to NC State in the spring semester of 2018 … Played in 30 games and had a career-high 15 points in a season-high 21 minutes against Western Carolina … Had eight points and eight rebounds in a win over USC Upstate … Twice had three steals in a game, including at Florida State … After going 0 of 7 on three-pointers in his rookie year at Missouri, made 8 of 19 last season for the Pack … Started nine of 14 games he played in as a freshman at Missouri before transferring … Had a 1.83 assist-to-turnover ratio there … Contributed season bests of 11 points and nine assists against Long Beach State, and had 10 points versus Il- linois … Averaged 25.0 points and 9.6 assists per game as a senior at Word of God Academy in Raleigh and was named all-state by the Associated Press … Was rated as the No. 136 overall prospect nationally in the 2017 class by Rivals.com … Originally signed a letter of intent with Washington before switching to Missouri after a coaching change. PERSONAL Son of Bernardo and Kellie Harris … Bernardo is a former UNC linebacker who played nine seasons in the NFL and in two Super Bowls with the Green Bay Packers … Has a brother and sister … Birthday is Dec. 18. STATISTICS Year G-GS MPG PPG RPG APG FG% 3FG% FT% 2017-18* 13-9 13.9 3.8 2.4 3.1 40.7 0.0 69.2 2018-19 30-0 9.5 3.1 1.3 1.5 42.4 42.1 73.7 * at Missouri BLAKE HARRIS 55 Jr. • Chapel Hill, N.C. • 6-3 • 195 G PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN