A look into Indiana’s future bigs.
Indiana made another addition to its frontcourt this week with a commitment from North Florida transfer Josh Harris. Harris is the second former Osprey to sign with the Hoosiers, joining future and former teammate Jasai Miles.
Like Miles, Harris is more of a modern forward than what we’re used to seeing at Indiana. Playing 56% of North Florida’s minutes at the five spot, he still popped out to the perimeter for 1.1 3-point attempts per game, making 33% of them.
As the first two clips of his highlight reel show, he doesn’t have the quickest release and definitely benefited from opposing bigs being unwilling/unable to defend him out to the perimeter.
Still, it’s worth noting that new head coach Darien DeVries doesn’t appear to be willing to add any players who can’t at least step out and knock down an open three.
Despite being shorter than fellow transfer Reed Bailey by at least two inches (some outlets have him at 6’9”, some at 6’8”), Harris will probably compete with Florida transfer Sam Alexis for the bulk of the minutes at the five.
While Bailey is able to pass and handle the ball from the perimeter, Harris has more of a traditional interior game. Last year, 80% of his shots came at the rim, where he shot 60%.
A good number of these looks came from offensive rebounds, one area where Harris really excels. His 13% offensive rebounding rate put him in the top 75 nationally last season and will be an asset on a roster full of guards and high-volume shooters.
He was able to back opponents down in the Atlantic Sun at 210 pounds, but may need to bulk up to continue to play that style of offense in the Big Ten.
Luckily, with guys like Lamar Wilkerson, Tucker DeVries, and Miles around him, Harris will not need to be the focal point of the offense like he was last season at North Florida.
Even if he doesn’t add the strength and size needed to maintain his post up game at the Big Ten level, Harris moves well off-ball and was effective in the pick and roll game, which should be a good pairing with all of the passers DeVries has added this year.
Harris only saw three high major opponents last year, but appeared to get more comfortable with the level of competition as the season went on.
After seeing just 15 minutes and scoring four points in the season opener against South Carolina, Harris put up 20 points against Nebraska on the road a month later. He also saw just 15 minutes in that game, which just highlights how efficient he can be against Big Ten competition.
With three years of eligibility remaining, there’s no rush for Darian DeVries to get him onto the court. Compared to a guy like Sam Alexis, there’s time for him to adjust to the move to the bigger conference and serve as a rotation player this year if he hits a sophomore slump.
Whether he’s an instant impact guy or somebody who develops over a few seasons in Bloomington, having a guy like Harris on your bench is the kind of foundation you like to see a coach have in place going into year one.