When Tennessee coach Rick Barnes and his staff paid a visit to former Wake Forest guard Juke Harris last month, Barnes felt positive vibes. But he wasn’t about to speed up the recruiting process. He wanted it to occur organically.
If there’s one thing Barnes has learned in 39 years as a head coach, patience is a virtue.
In mid-April, the Tennessee coaches visited Harris and his family at his home in Salisbury, N.C. Barnes came away from the visit with a good feeling about the Vols’ chances at getting Harris into the fold. But he didn’t push the issue. “He was also involved in preparation for the NBA Draft,” Barnes says. “That’s the dream of every kid who plays basketball. We wanted to respect his wishes and let that situation play out for him. He knew how much we wanted him, and we showed him how we wanted to use him.
“We just wanted to give him time to think about that.”
Last week, word came from Harris and his advisors that they wanted another conversation with Barnes and his coaches. Barnes was in the middle of the Big Orange Caravan, Tennessee’s annual coaches tour of the state’s larger cities. As soon as he finished in Chattanooga, there was a plane waiting for him. Already on board were assistant coaches Bryan Lentz, Steve McClain and Earl Grant. Their destination: California and a 9 o’clock meeting the next morning with Harris and his team.
Once again, the Tennessee staff’s interaction with Harris was positive. After the meeting, Barnes jumped back on a plane and rejoined the Caravan in Nashville. Tennessee director of athletics Danny White had to explain to the crowd there why Barnes was a bit late.
“He’s out recruiting,” White said. “He’s building a roster.”
That’s for sure. After the California meeting, Barnes felt even better about Harris joining the potential powerhouse the Tennessee coaches have put together in less than a month.
“The longer it went on, the better I felt about it,” Barnes says. “I felt like it was going to play in our favor.”
Barnes’ instincts proved correct when Harris announced via social media on Monday that he was staying in school, and his destination was Knoxville.
Harris’ decision ended a recruiting battle that may well have been the most written and talked about this portal season. Google “Juke Harris” and you’ll find pages and pages of stories and videos from reporters, broadcasters and pundits that cover Tennessee and the other two schools Harris was considering — Michigan and North Carolina. Harris’ recruitment was covered like the Kentucky Derby: Here’s Michigan with the early lead, but North Carolina’s coming up fast. Wait a minute! Tennessee’s closing ground. The Vols are in the lead going down the back stretch!
Only Harris and the coaches involved will ever know, but speculation about the amount of money it took to get him began to border on, if not insane, certainly astronomical. But as it turned out, Tennessee had an advantage the other schools didn’t. In 2023, Tennessee coaches recruited Harris and thought they had him. But at the last minute he changed his mind and decided to play for Wake Forest, where he stayed for two seasons.
The 6-foot-7, 200-pound Harris averaged 19 minutes and 6.1 points as a freshman. Last season, he blew up, earning ACC Most Improved Player honors after averaging 21.4 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 steals while shooting 33.2 percent from three. At times, Harris was Wake Forest’s offense. He led the ACC in field goal attempts (527), 262 of which were three-pointers.
As happened back in ancient times, before unlimited transfers and NIL turned recruiting into what some coaches now call the “Wild, Wild West,” players who took their one-time transfer and redshirt year often went to the school that was their second choice during their initial recruitment. Barnes, Lentz and former associate head coach Justin Gainey — who left in March for the head-coaching job at NC State — had already built a strong relationship with Harris, but just as importantly, Harris’ mother. Barnes gives Lentz a lot of the credit for staying in contact with the family, and Barnes had talked frequently with Harris’ mother.
In the end, familiarity and patience helped Tennessee land the No. 1 player in the portal. Harris adds to an embarrassment of riches that includes former California leading scorer Dae Dae Ames, former Belmont sharpshooter and Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year Tyler Lundblade, Notre Dame leading scorer Jalen Haralson, former VCU point guard Terrence Hill, Jr. and former Loyola Chicago center Miles Rubin, along with a top 15-ranked freshman class.
That collection of talent means Tennessee will look drastically different than last season, when Barnes started 6-foot-11 Felix Okpara, 6-foot-11 J.P. Estella (who’s now at Michigan) and 6-foot-10 Nate Ament.
But the most successful coaches usually adapt to their personnel. They don’t recruit personnel to force into a system.
“We’ve got a system,” Barnes says, laughing. “We’ve adjusted it 11 times in a row.”
Barnes was referring to the 11 seasons he’s coached at Tennessee.
The possibilities are endless as far as lineup configurations, and Barnes is more than willing to deploy a smaller lineup — but not that small. Sophomore DeWayne Brown II — the only other player back, from this season’s Elite Eight team — would play center at 6-foot-8 and 251 pounds. Haralson, a solid 6-foot-7 and 220, could play as a small-ball four who can facilitate offense with his passing. Harris slots in at small forward, and he rebounds his position as well as any wing guard in the country. Lundblade, 6-foot-5 and 200 pounds, could be the shooting guard, and if Hill, who is 6-foot-3, plays the point, he would be the tallest player Barnes has started at that key spot since Jordan Bone in 2019.
Barnes marvels at Harris’ ability to score from anywhere on the floor. But in typical Barnes fashion he says, “He’s a great player. But he can get better. We think that’s why he chose to come here.”
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