USA East Coast calls off hoops all-star tour. KU’s Dajuan Harris denied trip to Spain
Kansas point guard Dajuan Harris will not be competing for the USA East Coast all-star team this summer in Spain after all.
Harris, a 6-foot-1, 170-pound sophomore from Columbia, Missouri, was informed on Wednesday the upcoming, early-August trip to Valencia and Barcelona has been called off.
A USA East Coast official told The Star in an email that the trip was postponed because of “COVID concerns.”
Harris recently accepted a spot on the USA East Coast Red team, which was to have played games against teams from Spain and France. Former KU coach Larry Brown, who is now an assistant at Memphis, had signed up to coach the team.
Other players on the Red team, which were to join two other USA East Coast all-star teams (White team, Blue team) Saturday for training camp at Manhattan College in New York, were: Buddy Boeheim and Jimmy Boeheim, Syracuse; Matthew Turner, Western Connecticut State; Paul Mulcahy, Rutgers; Matthew Kelly, Assumption; Alyn Breed, Providence; Joey Baker, Duke; Evan Battey, Colorado and Patrick McCaffrey, Iowa.
Harris averaged 2.4 points and 2.2 assists a year ago for the 21-9 Jayhawks. He had 65 assists to 24 turnovers in 30 games.
USA East Coast director Guy Rancourt told Syracuse,com he was forced to cancel the four-game tour because of rising COVID-19 rates in Spain. Rancourt told Syracuse.com that the Center for Disease Control told him Spain’s spike in COVID cases had been primarily among individuals ages 10 to 23.
Rancourt told Syracuse.com there was concern if a player or coach tested positive overseas, the group might be forced to quarantine in Spain.
After accepting a spot on the team, Harris told The Star in a direct Twitter message: “I’m excited. I’ve never gotten to travel out of the country and I will learn a lot from all the different coaches.” Harris on Wednesday did not immediately answer a request for comment regarding the cancellation of the tour.
This story was originally published July 28, 2021 at 10:24 PM with the headline "USA East Coast calls off hoops all-star tour. KU’s Dajuan Harris denied trip to Spain."
