Fresh from winning a conference championship in his senior year at Fresno State University, the 6 ft 4’ inch shooting guard was looking for a new home when he worked out one on one with Illawarra coach Rob Beveridge.

When Beveridge shared the coaching philosophy that saw the Hawks blow past 100 points on nine occasions last season, the most of the 40-minute era, Harris knew Wollongong was the place for him.

“When I hard that my eyes did kind of light up, it was something to be excited about,” Harris said.

“The way he explained it to me he’ll get mad if we don’t shoot enough shots and that’s the right system for me.

“I liked that a lot. It’s similar to our college system, we liked to get up and down the court, play defence, force guys to turn the ball over and just score as many points as possible.

“I love to play exciting basketball, highlight plays, putting a lot of points on the board, getting the crowd involved. Scoring a lot of points is a great way to do that.”

Harris went undrafted June despite an outstanding college season for the Bulldogs in which he was named Mountain Conference player of the year and finals tournament MVP. 

He makes no secret of his desire to play in the NBA and, despite attracting a number of more lucrative offers in Europe, Harris believes playing under Beveridge in the NBL is the best way to do that.

“Coach Bevo was a big reason with everything he’s done as a coach,” Harris said.

“He’s a great coach, he’s done good things for this team and after reviewing my options I feel it was the best situation for me.

“It wasn’t about money it was more about the right fit and trying to get to the NBA. He’ll  give me the opportunity to showcase my talents and under him I feel he can help me get there.

“I like to create for guys, I can create for myself, I like playing defence and getting after guys so I think I bring a little bit of everything overall and that’s something he liked about me.

“I know there’s been a lot good players in this league and I know it’s a tough league with a lot of physicality. It tells you a lot about the league when you see the players who’ve played in it.”

Having steered Fresno State to their first conference title since 2001, Harris is keen to do the same with the Hawks, who’ve waited just as long for their second NBL title.

“It’s always the ultimate goal to win a championship. Coming in that’s all I have my eyes set on and with this group of guys, we’re more than capable of winning a championship,” he said.