Harris an energy-boost despite UNC loss at Florida State
When North Carolina redshirt freshman Anthony Harris approached the scorer’s table to check into the Tar Heels’ 82-75 loss at Florida State, teammate R.J. Davis said he had to do a double take to make sure he saw what he saw.
Harris had not played for the Tar Heels (8-5, 3-3 ACC) in the first half. He had not played for them yet this season. He barely played last season. Five games and a total of 61 minutes was his total court time before Harris tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in their win over Yale on Dec. 30, 2019. But during his time observing games from the bench, he knew how he’d fit in and be effective for this team.
“Just pretty much bringing some new energy to the team,” Harris said. “Energy on defense, just being vocal on the court — I mean, I feel like everybody feeds off of a vocal leader, someone that’s gonna stay locked in the whole game.”
When UNC junior guard/forward Leaky Black picked up his third foul, Harris got the nod with the Seminoles in the middle of an 8-0 spurt and a 54-43 lead with 13:39 left in the game. The 6-foot-4 guard hopped on the exercise bike for a quick warmup and headed to check in.
“I was pretty excited, I can’t I can’t lie to you,” Harris said. “It was just a lot of emotion going through me. But I mean, like I said, I was still locked in.”
Despite not playing in the first half, Harris said he still did his stretching routine at halftime in case he did get called to play.
He answered the call with a drive and assist to Garrison Brooks for a three-point play. Harris found Caleb Love open on another possession for a 3-pointer. He twice drew fouls from FSU players for setting moving screens both from chasing behind one of their shooters and from his on-ball defense.
“I didn’t expect Ant to play, but he gave us a huge lift,” said Brooks, who had 12 points. “We needed somebody new, some new energy in there, and that’s what he did for us. He was great.”
When it came time, Harris his offense going with a driving layup and a 3-pointer in back-to-back possessions. He finished with five points, three assists and he was plus-10 during the nine minutes he played. No other Carolina player had above a plus-2 rating.
The words energy and Anthony Harris were synonymous among those who spoke of him.
“His energy level is extremely important to us, and it gave us a lift at that time,” UNC coach Roy Williams said. “That’s who he is. That’s what he does every day.”
It was telling as the Tar Heels rallied from that 11-point deficit to pull within 74-73 with 2:22 remaining, Harris was on the floor. When they didn’t make another basket the rest of the game, missing their last five shots from the floor, Harris was out.
He admitted that he conditioning level is not where it needs to be. And Williams said the plan is to take it slow with Harris.
“He does have a tremendous level of energy, but I’m not going to go play that kid 25-30 minutes a game,” Williams said. “He’s just getting back. I mean, today, the first time I took him out, because he asked to come out. His level of conditioning is not game-like and we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Harris said his recovery time was slowed by the coronavirus pandemic. He’d been through rehabilitation before. First in high school, when he tore the ACL in his left knee. It caused him to miss the first eight games of last season before making his debut.
As he went through the process of getting his right knee back in shape, he didn’t push through the way he would have if the pandemic never hit.
“The protocol of corona, we had to get familiar with it,” Harris said. “So it took some time off of my recovery. I wasn’t going at it pretty much every day.”
He will be now. And the Tar Heels will benefit from Harris injecting instant-energy into their lineup.
This story was originally published January 16, 2021 at 4:18 PM.