Dajuan Harris asked KU coach Self for rare breather: ‘I want to play the whole game’
Taking his responsibilities as Kansas’ starting point guard seriously, senior Dajuan Harris rarely asks to be removed from a college basketball game for recovery time on the bench.
“I want to play the whole game. Coach (Bill Self) knows that, but I’ve got to come out at some point,” Harris, KU’s 6-foot-2, 170-pound ironman, said after the Jayhawks’ 75-60 victory over Yale on Friday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
Harris played 35 minutes, which happens to be his team-leading average in minutes played through 11 games. He requested a breather with 12:25 left in the game, KU trailing the Ivy League Bulldogs, 42-41.
“I was so tired. I was tired before I came out,” he said during a postgame interview on the Jayhawk radio network. “Coach Self got me a little break. Coach let me rest a couple minutes. I think it helped me out a lot.”
There was no peace and quiet for Harris during his 2 1/2 minutes on the pine.
“Coach got onto me at one point,” Harris said. “I started pouting on the bench a little bit. Then I just got back out there and I had to show Coach I wasn’t going to be a big baby because I wasn’t defending well. I tried to make some plays for my team because that’s what we needed.”
Challenged by Self to cause some havoc on defense, Harris returned to the court with 10 minutes left, KU ahead 45-42, and did just that:
- Harris had a steal at 8:02 that resulted in a layup by Kevin McCullar; that opened a 51-43 lead with 7:53 to play
- He swiped another steal at 6:16, was fouled while leading the fast break and hit two free throws to push the advantage to 12, 59-47, at the 6:16 mark.
- Another Harris steal at 5:21 led to a basket by KJ Adams and a comfortable 66-47 lead for the Jayhawks.
Yes, Harris had three steals in the final 10 minutes after being challenged by Self on the bench. He finished with six assists against two turnovers, with 10 points, four steals and a block in his 35 minutes.
“I’m on Coach’s good side,” Harris said, “(but) he’s been on me this year. I’ve been turning the ball over. I know I have.”
Harris has 81 assists to 31 turnovers for the 11-1 Jayhawks. He has also been chipping in 6.9 points per game.
“I’ve got to get back to past years. I will,” he said.
Self said Harris “turns it over this year uncharacteristically more than he has the last couple years (224 assists, 73 turnovers last year and 166 assists to 59 turnovers in 2021-22). We’ve got to cut that out.”
The KU coach also would like to see Harris score more.
“I saw a stat we are 27-1 when he hits double figures,” Self said. “That’s easier said than done. He needs to get to double figures. We need to encourage him to do that. He’s looking to score a little more (lately), which is nice.
“I know that should make our fan base a little happier. I heard from somebody who said Juan waits until everybody is mad at him for not looking to score then he looks to score after everybody gets mad at him for not trying to.”
Self has said he would not trade Harris for any other point guard in the country. A partial qualifier upon arriving out of high school, Harris has close to a 4.0 grade point average, the best overall GPA on the team. He is taking graduate school courses having already earned a liberal arts and science degree at KU.
“He’s beat all odds,” Self said on a recent Hawk Talk radio show. “He’s been dealt a rough hand.”
Harris’ dad died in October 2017 after a stint in prison; his brother Dajion died in October 2019. Harris’ story has been well-chronicled in an excellent Jesse Newell piece in The Star.
“Only a special few could somehow stay positive enough to have the career he’s had,” Self said. “All respect to Juan. I’m proud of him for a lot of things. He’s kind of become the team spokesman. He talks all the time now. It used to be you couldn’t get him to say boo, now you can’t shut him up. It shows the maturity he’s had, how much he’s grown.
“He’s been a role model for so many and basically the head of his family, though his grand-mom and mom would have something to say about that,” Self continued. “Last year he was a finalist for first-team Academic All-American. This is somebody who was a partial qualifier. He had to not play his freshman year. The NCAA wanted to make sure he could do his work academically. He’s shown everybody what he can do.”
Harris had several of his family members waiting for him in Allen Fieldhouse on Friday night to make the drive to Columbia, Missouri for a 3 1/2-day Christmas break.
“I haven’t really asked for anything at Christmas for real because I need nothing, for real,” Harris said. “I’m just trying to take care of my family with NIL stuff. I gave my mom and grammy some money and my siblings some money, too. I try to take care of them. I don’t need anything.”
Harris said the NIL dollars he has received have been a true blessing.
“My mom works. My grandmom has been working 24/7,” Harris said. “I know a lot of people aren’t there for them. I can help (through NIL) and just being a good player on the basketball court will show with NIL. I just have to keep doing my thing. I know my family will be there to support me right or wrong. I just have to keep doing me.
“When I was growing up I used to think my mom and grandmom had money, but they really didn’t have money. Now that I got older I realized it was actually hard for them. They’ve got me now. I’m happy, grateful NIL came into the college business. Now I can treat my family well.”
Harris will return to Lawrence on Tuesday night as practice will begin in advance of Saturday’s 3 p.m. game against Wichita State at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.
“I’m going to get some rest at home, chill with my family and friends a couple days then come back here and get right back at it, too,” Harris said.
This story was originally published December 25, 2023 at 5:30 AM with the headline "Dajuan Harris asked KU coach Self for rare breather: ‘I want to play the whole game’."
