The South Carolina Warriors players got a surprise in practice Friday as Joseph Harris rejoined the team after playing a stint in Uruguay over the last month.
Warriors coach Chris Beard had told the guys the team was going to add a player to the roster later this week, but he didn’t tell them it was Harris, who was the squad’s leading rebounder through the first eight games before leaving for the professional opportunity in South America.
“It was fun watching him walk in the gym today,” Beard said.
Added Harris, “It was just like when a family member comes home and everybody’s happy. … And then it was right to business.”
The Warriors, off to a 14-0 start in their inaugural season in the American Basketball Association and ranked third in the league’s national power rankings, will welcome Harris back on the court Saturday night at the Carolina Forest Recreation Center as they host the Fayetteville (N.C.) Crossover of the Tobacco Road Basketball League.
And Beard is eager to have the versatile 6-foot-5 former Coastal Carolina standout back on the roster.
“He’s just such a high-energy guy. He’s one of the best players I’ve ever coached, he really is,” Beard said. “When I was doing my preliminary work this fall, I talked to [CCU coach Cliff Ellis] and I’ll never forget what he said. He said ‘Chris, he’s the best rebounder I ever coached.’ … Sure enough, I agree with coach Ellis completely. He just has an uncanny ability to get his hands on [rebounds], and he’s just a great teammate.”
Harris’ multi-dimensional game earned him a short-term contract with the Cader professional team in Uruguay for the final seven games of the regular season. The team was trying to make a late push in the standings, Harris said, so that it would maintain its level in the league as the bottom two teams get demoted at the end of each season.
The team narrowly missed out on that goal, but Harris did his part while averaging 21 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
“To tell you the truth, it was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced,” Harris said. “They wanted help to finish [the season and stay in] that category. If you finish bottom two, you move down to the lowest level. For the first time I was the oldest guy on the team and they looked to me for scoring. … That’s one thing I had to get used to, having to go out to score a lot of points instead of going out to be a stat stuffer [in a variety of categories].”
Harris, who helped the Chants to a 28-7 finish as a senior in the 2009-10 season, is hoping his performance over those seven games will open up more opportunities in higher leagues throughout South America with his ultimate goal to work his way up the professional ranks and have a chance to play full-time in Europe.
“The agent that helped him get over there, a friend of mine, thinks it’s going to be no problem getting him a job in South America in the future based on how he played,” Beard said. “… It’s possible he could be picked up by another team in the next couple months as the playoffs continue.”
In the meanwhile, he’ll try to help the Warriors maintain their perfect record.
“It’s great,” Harris said. “It’s just like coming home again.”
Notes
Any fans who bring a ticket stub from either the Coastal Carolina men’s or women’s basketball games Saturday afternoon can buy a discounted $8 ticket to the Warriors game.
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