When I first heard the names “Devin Harris” and “NBA” used in the same sentence, I had to chuckle a bit. Not that I thought Harris was some D-III chump — he’s far from it, but the NBA is beyond a cut above college.
However, this season Devin Harris has made a believer out of me. That is not to say I never thought he was good; I just never thought he was this good. For the past two seasons Harris has been, in my opinion, not just the team’s most talented player, but the team’s most valuable player.
Sure, arguments could be made, and have been made that it was Kirk Penney carrying those Badger squads, but take Harris off the floor and say goodbye to a couple of Big Ten Championship banners. Maybe all he needed was to escape Penney’s 6-foot-5 Kiwi shadow.
This season, he has risen to a whole new level. Not only is he Wisconsin’s best player, but he is the unquestioned floor general of the team.
As good as he had been prior to this season, it was just hard for an unbiased observer of Badger athletics to classify Harris as an elite player. He was a very good player, but elite? That’s saying a lot in college basketball.
Remember the O’Bannon brothers at UCLA? They were great college players. They led the Bruins to the National Championship. Well, Charles played a whole two years in the Association, scoring a total of 120 points. Ed also lasted two seasons, averaging a slightly more robust 5.0 points per game with the Nets.
Or stay inside the Big Ten and look at one of the greatest collegiate point guards in recent memory, Michigan State’s Mateen Cleaves. Everyone remembers Mateen. His Spartans beat the Badgers an astounding 10 times in the course of his four-year career.
What has Mr. Cleaves accomplished in the pros? Nothing at all. He’s spent most of his brief career modeling various jerseys on the bench and has seen as much game action as Master P.
The list goes on: Miles Simon, Shawn Respert, Jeff Sheppard. All phenomenal talents who had phenomenal collegiate careers, but that’s where their paths of stardom came to a close: in college.
As much as I wanted to see Harris join the ranks of Michael Finley and Paul Grant (depending upon what 10-day contract cycle it currently is) in the NBA, declaring that someone is going to play in the league is saying an awful lot. Every player in the NBA was a college star (I know, I know, or high school. Stay with me here, nitpickers). From Tim Duncan all the way down to Robert Archibald, they were all standouts.
My view of Harris has changed this season. He is that good. Saturday against Illinois, Harris turned in what is in my mind the most impressive single-game performance from a Wisconsin basketball player in some time.
Penney certainly had his fair share of dominating outings, but what Harris did was different. He controlled the entire game. It was not a matter of streak scoring; from bell to bell, that game belonged to No. 34.
Coming off one of his worst performances, the junior point guard came out with a fire in his eye never before seen, and for Harris, that’s saying something. From the opening tip he was the aggressor, pushing the ball whenever he got the chance. Harris put up 30 on the Illini, and made the much-flashier Dee Brown look more like Steve Urkel than the preseason Big Ten Player of the Year.
It was almost as if the other nine players on the floor were moving in slow motion. In actuality, Harris was simply one speed ahead of everyone else.
There is no doubt in my mind now that Harris is one of the best, if not the best, players in the conference. Not only is he that, but he’s among the créme de la créme of the nation. He has arrived on the national scene.
As I left the Kohl Center Saturday afternoon, I told myself that I was convinced. Convinced that Harris would be an NBA player … several years down the road. That’s right, after his four-year collegiate career has come to a close. Now is not the time for him to worry about the league. Now is the time to worry about the Big Ten.
Remember the name Scotty Thurman? How about Marcus Taylor? Or William Avery? Some people thought they were ready to make the jump. Unfortunately for them, NBA general managers were not those people. Look at how Harris has improved each year in Madison, and tell me he will not be even better as a senior.
Besides, who would want to leave college sooner than they have to? I’m sure in no hurry to leave, but then again, Devin’s profession pays a bit better than mine.
