The Memphis Tigers basketball team got a midseason addition for the second year in a row, this year in the form of 6’0 former Virginia guard Dante Harris. Harris is immediately eligible and has reportedly been practicing with the team this week.
Harris spent two years at Georgetown, where as a freshman he won most outstanding player in the 2021 Big East tournament following Georgetown’s Cinderella run through it that got them a surprise NCAA tournament bid, and averaged 10 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.6 assists in his career at Georgetown.
Following those two years at Georgetown, he transferred to Virginia, where he had much less success, only averaging 2.5 points and 2.1 rebounds per game, and never quite got comfortable.
Harris will provide backcourt depth in a rotation badly needing it. PJ Haggerty and Tyrese Hunter are 18th and 71st in the nation, respectively, in minutes played, and have been battling injury all year. Taking pressure and some minutes off of them will be imperative for the long run, and ideally Harris will be able to provide that. Harris will not be anywhere near as impactful as Nae’Qwan Tomlin was last year and is much more of a depth piece than a key cog in the rotation.
Harris excels at driving to the basket and is a solid on ball defender, but is a poor shooter, only being a 25.1% career 3-point shooter. The mold is similar to Baraka Okojie, however he is more battle tested and experienced than the sophomore Okojie and will hopefully be able to carve out the role Okojie has been unable to thus far this season.
Memphis will finish out non-conference play against Ole Miss tomorrow for a white out, and Harris will be available, but it would be a surprise if he played any meaningful minutes. He will likely get worked into the rotation during conference play.
