Ann Arbor is going to popping for all of the right reasons this weekend. The Michigan Wolverines are celebrating the national championship basketball team, all while simultaneously hosting a key piece that could help them repeat next season.
On3’s No. 1 transfer portal player, guard/wing Juke Harris, is set to be to be on campus as the festivities get under way, according to a report from Josh Henschke of the Maize and Blue Review. I’m not sure if there is a better way to potentially attract a player of his
caliber.
The former Wake Forest Demon Deacon was a nightmare for defenses, earning him the ACC Most Improved Player and ACC Second-Team honors this season. The 6-foot-7, 200-pounder averaged 21.4 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.3 steals per game this season as a sophomore.
He led the ACC in shots attempted, was third in points and 12th in rebounds, shooting 44.4 percent from the field and 33.2 percent from deep. Harris was the first Demon Deacon to score 750 points or more in a single season since 1961. His game is mostly driving to the hoop for athletic finishes at the rim while drawing a bunch of fouls, racking up almost 250 free throw attempts.
Harris simultaneously declared for the NBA Draft while also entering the transfer portal on April 3. He’ll go through the entire process, but the expectation is he returns for a third year of college before turning pro.
As Michigan now has the impossible task of replacing Big Ten Player of the Year and first-team All-American Yaxel Lendeborg, Harris would be an excellent fit. He’s bigger than most players at the 3 spot and has the length to be an excellent defender at multiple positions. He likely will take a step back in production — it’s unlikely he’ll shoot the ball 527 times next season as he did this year — but the potential for him is sky high and there are going to be a lot of teams lining up to try and land him.
Head coach Dusty May has the blueprint for turning high producing players with questionable draft prospects to players with pro futures who win at the college level if they buy into his system. Harris will have the opportunity to not only talk with May, Lendeborg and other players who were a part of this championship team, but also witness what that brotherhood is like.
Harris is a former top-100 recruit out of North Carolina and is ranked No. 1 in the portal by On3 and No. 5 by 247Sports. Both have him as the top combo guard in the portal.
