Saturday, March 04, 2000
XU career disappoints, but Harris still upbeat
Senior perseveres despite lack of playing time
BY MICHAEL PERRY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Obi Harris admits it's going to be awkward on Sunday. It's Xavier's Senior Day, the final regular-season home game and perhaps a farewell to the Cincinnati Gardens.
Yet Harris, 23, a junior-college transfer who will graduate in May, knows he may not even get into the game vs. St. Joseph's.
“It seemed like I had so many years to play college ball,” he said. “It seemed like it would go on forever.”
Unofficially, it ended months ago. The 6-foot-10 senior has played only 29 minutes in eight games this season.
When Harris arrived from Tallahassee (Fla.) Community College with two years of eligibility, Xavier coaches saw a big man who could run the floor and block shots.
Harris broke his right index finger during his first preseason. He started 13 games but never established himself, averaging just 1.8 points and 1.8 rebounds with 28 blocks in 25 games.
Harris has been even less of a factor this season; he hasn't played since Jan. 30.
“Being a competitor and being an athlete who has a lot of pride in himself and a lot of pride in his game, it's been very difficult,” Harris said. “I always thought that I could play college ball, and I still feel that way.”
However, after Harris played just one minute in Xavi er's exhibition game against Athletes in Action, “something in my heart told me, "Wow, it's going to be a long season.'”
He contemplated leaving the team but decided to stick it out, coming to practice every day as upbeat as possible. But when Xavier went through a losing streak where it lost five of seven games, Harris couldn't help but wonder whether he could have helped.
“I'm not a guy who is really caught up in myself,” Harris said. “I'm still a big part of this team whether I play or not because I try to keep the team together as much as possible.”
Xavier coaches were hoping Harris would came back stronger and improved last fall, but didn't think he worked as hard in the offseason as he needed to.
“Let's just leave it at the fact that he didn't play as much as he would've liked to,” coach Skip Prosser said. “He's going to leave with his degree; he's helped us win some games; and I think he's been a solid part of our success.”
Harris will earn a liberal arts degree and wants to work with teen-agers, helping them choose “the right route to go.” He still hopes to play basketball professionally, perhaps overseas.
Harris thought Xavier was the right program because of the Musketeers' style of play. But he admits not knowing what to expect from Division I basketball.
He thinks he has improved, especially in his understanding of the game. Prosser agrees.
“I didn't grow up with a basketball in my hand,” Harris said. “I don't have one of those stories where since I was 5 years old, I played all day, every day in the snow. I didn't play until I was 16.
“I started out playing basketball to pay my way through college, to get a degree. (But) I did fall in love with this game.”
He has regrets. Who knows what might have happened had he gone elsewhere? He was recruited by DePaul and St. John's.
“That's one question that will always be in the back of my mind,” Harris said.
“If you're on the outside looking in, you say, "Well, there's a guy who's going to get his degree in May' — and a lot of athletes are not in that position. I've gotten a little bit of exposure. I've had the opportunity to play in front of thousands of people who've rooted me on. I wouldn't say it was a bad decision coming here. There are a lot of people who would love to be in my position, even maybe to fail, but just to have the chance.”
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