Gary Harris is one of the top guards in the class of 2012. He has offers from Butler, Cincinatti, Illinois, Indiana, IUPUI, Miami (FL), Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Notre Dame Ohio State, Oregon State, Vanderbilt and Xavier. And today, he picked up an official offer from Michigan. Here’s some video of what he can do and my impression of him after watching him earlier this summer:
Whenever I talk about Harris, I have to remind myself not to drift into hyperbole, but it’s hard sometimes. He’s really, really good. He was the best player in the tournament in my opinion. One of the major reasons for that was his consistency. He didn’t just play well for a half before the other team figured him out. He didn’t just whup on all the bad teams. He carried a U16 D-3 Heat team that was playing up to a 17U championship. He had some help, but he was clearly the best player on the court in every game he played. The thing is, every team knew this, keyed on him, and still couldn’t stop him.
Here’s what Harris had to say:
Describe you game I’m a guard who likes to get to the basket and create in transition, but if you sag enough on him he’ll knock down the open jump shot.
Has Michigan offered you yet? I just picked up an offer from Michigan today.
Did you talk to coach Beilein? Yes I did, yeah.
You visited Michigan a couple weeks ago, right? Yeah, I did.
What’d you think? I liked it a lot, it’s a great school with a lot of tradition.
Did you get to meet any of the other coaches? I know Jackson just left and LaVall Jordan is taking his place. Me and LaVall, we already had a good relationship. And the other coaches I have a good relationship with, too.
How do you know LaVall Jordan? Well, he used to recruit me at Iowa, then when he didn’t have a job for a certain amount of time we would always talk, he would come to some of my games and stuff.
What do you like about Michigan? I like the coaching staff. That’s the big thing for me because all schools are always going to have practice facilities, big gyms, they are all going to say they can provide a good education, I mean it’s all going to be the same. So the coaching staff is the big difference for me.
What would you bring to Michigan? I would just bring everything I can. I just want to win as much as possible.
What are you focusing on improving about your game right now? My all-around game. I just want to get better at everything I’m doing. So there’s not one set thing I want to improve on, I want to improve on everything.
Are you planning on going to any elite camps? I’m really not sure yet. I have a real busy schedule and I have football stuff going on too.
Any specific player you’re compared to? People say a lot of different players that they compare me to, they just say any player that’s real physical, likes to get to the basket in transition and can knock down jumpshots.
