UVA basketball player Will Harris is transferring, The Daily Progress and TheSabre.com reported this weekend.
“Will Harris?” you say. “Isn’t he the guy who was injured most of the year and played limited minutes after that?”
You’re correct. Harris, a 6’6” rising junior, saw a mere 9 minutes per game in the 15 games he appeared in last year. Moreover, his production wasn’t likely to increase next year. Power forward minutes would more likely to go to Mike Scott, who is taller and more talented, and Jamil Tucker, who plays with the intensity that Head Coach Dave Leitao likes. It was more conceivable that he could earn some minutes at small forward had he slimmed down, but Mamadi Diane and Solomon Tat both have better frames to defend at that position.
Harris’ departure is significant for two reasons: First, he was the best cheerleader that the team had. Harris was the first guy on the bench to jump up and holler at his boy when he made a good play, and he was often the first guy to go slap five when someone came out of the game onto the bench. He was Positive Energy Man, the Anti-Dave, trying to give back the self-esteem that Cavaliers lost under Leitao’s constant tongue lashings.
Second, he’s the first Leitao recruit to jump ship, and it raises some concerns for the mental health of this squad that the guy to leave is the one who seemed the most fun to have around the locker room. Granted, Harris didn’t exactly have the smoothest recruiting process, committing to Nebraska (which he seems to have decided wasn’t good enough for him) and then Connecticut (which seems to have decided he wasn’t good enough for them) before really committing to UVA. But there weren’t many smiles to go around last year, and many players—particularly Adrian Joseph, Mamadi Diane and Mike Scott—seemed to chafe at Leitao’s short temper when they made mistakes. To lose the biggest smile on the team—well, it’s not like losing Sean Singletary, but it’s not exactly encouraging.
Of course, if UVA wins ACC games, none of this will matter very much. But you’d better bet this will become another link in the narrative of “Leitao’s failure to win with his own recruits” if the Cavaliers finish in the bottom tier of the conference. We can imagine Harris’ departure used as another sign that Leitao was too unyielding with the egos of his players.
The silver lining to all of this is that his departure frees up a scholarship, and Leitao has two players who would eagerly snap it up. Calvin Baker, the William & Mary transfer, is possibly the most deserving, as a walk-on who ended up back-up point guard last year. But Baker will be on the team regardless, and the scholarship could give 7’0” Tunji Soroye the chance to return after a disappointing, injury-plagued season. He has a year of eligibility left if he is granted a medical redshirt, and Leitao could use Soroye as a back-up to Lars and to take pressure off freshmen John Brandenburg and Assane Sene.
In football news, cornerback Mike Brown was finally cut from the team. But, given the felonious larceny charge combined with a DWI charge, we all knew that was going to happen.