2014 NBA Draft lottery hopeful Gary Harris is projected to go in the 10-15 range during Thursday night’s draft. Dime briefly spoke with Harris before the NBA’s “Off the Court” Roundtable sponsored by American Express yesterday afternoon in New York. He told us about the biggest shot of his life, which actually happened before he joined his Michigan State Spartans.
Our own mock draft has Harris going at No. 10 to Philadelphia (by way of the Pellies), while Chad Ford and Jonathan Givony of ESPN and DraftExpress have him at No. 13 and No. 14, respectively. Regardless of which team ends up with the Spartans sharpshooter, they’ll get a player who isn’t afraid to take a shot in the closing moments.
Perhaps that stems from the opening game of sectionals during his senior year at Hamilton Southeastern High School in Fishers, Indiana. When we asked Harris if it was the craziest shot he’s ever hit, he quickly responded, “yes,” before adding, “[it’s] not even close” and “no shot compares at Michigan State.”
We asked him to explain the sequence of events leading up to the shot:
“We ended up getting a steal at half-court. [There] was like 2.9 seconds [4.6, actually] and we had one shot. I was able to get to it, took one dribble, spun off the defender and I just shot from half-court.”
After the shot banked in, the fans rushed the court.
Here’s what he’s talking about:
Harris’ mother, Joy, played at Purdue and then went on to a career playing professionally for the Detroit Shock.
While the Draft is “definitely different from the WNBA to the NBA,” Harris said, his mom has “always supported me, honestly — being there for me, and just someone I can talk to; someone who’s in my corner.”
Mom’s advice to Harris for Thursday night? “She’s just saying, ‘take it all in and enjoy it.’ Life’s going to change after Thursday night.”
It sure will, but we’re pretty sure Harris will be ready — just like he was in the closing seconds of the opening sectional game in high school.
(video via VYPEci)
Who ends up with Gary Harris in the Draft?
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