FAYETTEVILLE — Jalen Harris has been around the Arkansas basketball program longer than a majority of the players on coach Mike Anderson’s roster, but fans of the program, through no fault of their own, know very little about the team’s lead guard entering a new season.
Harris, a 6-3 lightning bolt with the ball who transferred from New Mexico following his freshman season with the Lobos, patiently waited and watched the Razorbacks reach the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four seasons from the sidelines in 2017-18. He is honestly not sure how he stayed patient.
At times he didn’t think the season would ever come to and end. Not that he wanted the season to end sooner rather than later, but the itch to get back on the court was something he’d never experienced before. He knew he could lend All-SEC guards Jaylen Barford and Daryl Macon a hand. The lobs from frontcourt players that Daniel Gafford finished well above the rim, he could make those passes, too.
Harris remained patient by continually testing himself against Macon and Barford in practice. Barford utilized his upper-body strength and size to bully his way to the rim. Harris, playing at 163-164 pounds as of now, he said, likes to compare his game to Macon’s, and to Anton Beard’s on the defensive end.
“Learning from them and watching film on them and studying what they do well and what they don’t … I just try to put myself in that situation and see what I can do to play similar to them because they had excellent careers here,” Harris said. “I just try to study Daryl and find the spots he was getting in to get shots off, seeing teammates, stuff like that.”
But before he landed at Arkansas, Harris was a standout guard at Word of God Christian Academy in Raleigh, N.C. He was rated a top-15 prospect in the state after leading the school to a top-40 national ranking by MaxPreps. His junior season is most memorable, he says.
As a junior, Harris and more than a handful of teammates who would go on to play collegiately, including guard Demetrius Troy and 6-9 James Dickey at UNC-Greensboro, won a school-record 38 games. That season showed Harris it doesn’t matter what the outside world says. This particular team shared a unique bond, and its togetherness translated to the court. “As long as you play together you can win games,” Harris said.
Harris, prior to his junior season, met someone he admired and now considers a mentor — John Wall, a Word of God alum and five-time NBA All-Star with the Washington Wizards. The following year when Wall created his own AAU team, Harris was the first player contacted to run the show.
“Any chance I get in the summer and I see (Wall), I just try to take away from his game because, really, we kind of play similar — fast-paced, get everybody involved,” Harris said. “With things he does that I see, he is a little more athletic than me, so I see where I could maybe shoot a floater as opposed to trying to get to the lane, or where I could shoot a mid-range jumpshot. I go back and watch his college games a lot and see what he does.”
Watching Harris live, his speed will jump out. He said he truly realized that gift around his sophomore year of high school. Summer coaches helped build on that strength, encouraging him to get more north and south with the ball in his hands. The Razorbacks’ style of play, which he learned quite a bit about watching the SEC Storied 40 Minutes of Hell documentary on SEC Network, fits his game.
Anderson said during the summer months that it wasn’t unusual for players on last season’s roster to struggle keeping Harris in front of them in scrimmages. Harris will tell you he is one of the fastest guards in the country. Anderson had a comparison ready.
“He can really get the ball, push the ball down the floor. I think about Kareem Reid back in the day when Kareem was really quick and crafty with the ball,” said Anderson, entering his eighth season as the Razorbacks coach. “Jalen gives you some of that. I mess with him sometimes and say sometimes you don’t know where he’s going to throw it, but that’s part of what the summer and giving him a chance to play with these guys is about.
“I think he’s going to impact our team. I think you’re going to see him come out and be a real productive player for us.”
Daniel Gafford, Arkansas’ 6-11 projected lottery pick labeled by Anderson as the team’s centerpiece this season, has already developed chemistry with Harris, who dished out at least four assists in seven games in his one season at New Mexico. Gafford says Harris tells him regularly he will reward big men for running the floor and often yells at forwards to sprint in transition.
It’s a pick-your-poison type of scenario in Harris and Gafford’s minds.
“Playing with a guy like that, it shows that we’re going to be a great team this year because we have guards that can get it to the big man and facilitate like we had last year,” Gafford said. “We had guards that facilitated last year, so we have another guard that can facilitate. Honestly, he’s going to help the young guards come in and try to walk in his shoes, also.”
By the time Harris’ time at Arkansas is finished, he wants to give Anderson an SEC championship. He is quick to discuss his goals for the team. His individual goals, though, he would rather keep to himself. Being a father, however, is an aspect of his life he willingly opens up about, too. His son, Kalen, who turned 1 in May, drives Jalen daily.
During his freshman year at New Mexico, it was all about Jalen, he said. He didn’t care what others thought. Now, he’s much more cognizant of his actions.
“When people judge me, they’re judging not just on Jalen but how his kid will be,” Harris said. “I just wouldn’t do anything to embarrass him even though he’s a little kid and wouldn’t know. … It’s pretty wild seeing him walk, talk, say my name. That kind of stuff is really mind-blowing. Hearing him say my name for the first time was so surreal, like, I’m really a dad.”
In mid-September, Kalen and Harris’ girlfriend, Makayla, came to Fayetteville to visit for a week. Typically, Jalen sees the two one weekend out of each month. She lives in California and goes to school in the Oakland area. “I was getting used to coming home and seeing them every day,” Harris said of their most recent trip.
During his senior year at Word of God, Harris met Makayla through his best friend. With her living in California and him in North Carolina, he felt as if he was on the other side of the world from her. But the relationship developed over time, and once Harris got to college, he was making monthly visits. Then Kalen was born.
“Sometimes I don’t feel like I’m being the father I should be because I’m not seeing him every day, but I know I need to just keep working, and in a couple of years I’ll be able to live with him and be the father I need to be,” Harris said. “Even though he may not remember these times as much, I feel like I should be there for him, like when he learns new things. I want to be there.
“Just knowing that all of this is for him, that’s what drives me.”
Harris also sees Kalen beginning to open up to members of the basketball team, especially junior Adrio Bailey, his roommate, and allowing them to hold him. Khalil Garland and Gabe Osabuohien are around Kalen quite a bit, too.
“He’s around the team whenever he can be,” Harris said. “All the guys call him nephew.”
Dividing up his time between school, basketball and fatherhood is a challenge. Trying to squeeze all of his love and support for Kalen into those two-day visits is trying as well. Kalen loves to eat, Harris said, and the two often watch TV and shoot on the mini basketball goal in his room during down time.
“It’s pretty special. He’s starting to realize when I put a ball in his hands that basketball is very important to me,” he said. “Then when I see him playing with it, I’m like, ‘Wow. He’s really going to start playing basketball in a year or two.’”
By that time, Harris hopes to have made his own impression on Arkansas basketball. This season, he’s eager to quiet the naysayers and play in front of the electric crowds Bud Walton Arena is known for.
“I’m looking forward to proving everybody wrong, saying we’re a young team and one that lost six seniors,” Harris said. “Proving everybody wrong, that’s what I’m excited about."
This story originally appeared in Hawgs Illustrated