Stewart and Harris Already Earning Keep
Mark The Dinger Freidinger knows basketball. He knows the game inside and out, as a player, coach, scout and commentator. I don’t get to hear him with Stan on the radio as much as I would like because, sitting courtside, it would take a radio and headphones, and I need what little hearing I have left locked into the sounds of the game. But when we’re talking basketball before the game, I’m hanging on pretty much everything he tells me. And he told last week, before the IUP Exhibition game, that he really liked C.J. Harris, that C.J. Harris knows how to play basketball and how much C.J. Harris reminded him of Delaney Rudd, the tough as a hickory nut Deacon guard from the early 80s. “Because he knows how to play the game,’’ Dinger explained.
I got wind that tonight Dinger was also comparing him to Danny Young, a contemporary of Rudd’s who could take care of himself among the ACC’s best as well. Both played in the NBA, Rudd for four years, Young for 12, counting the three with Seattle to start (84-85) and the seven with Milwaukee at the end (94-95). Dinger knows them both well. He helped recruit them to Wake as an assistant for Carl Tacy. To compare anyone to either is a high compliment.
Other than Al-Farouq Aminu’s rally-crushing 10 points in a minute and 56 seconds rampage that effectively settled the game, I’ll best remember the Deacons’ 2009-10 season opening victory over Oral Roberts for the auspicious debut of Harris and classmate Ari Stewart. Both looked like they belonged. Both are quick with long arms, and both can run. Stewart delivered the offense, nailing two of five 3-pointers and scoring 11 points, while Harris was hitting all three of his field-goal attempts in a 8-point performance that was impressive, but not as impressive of his work at the other end.
“Those two freshmen gave us (34) great minutes,’’ Coach Dino Gaudio said. “I know we can look at the stat sheet and see they scored the ball a little bit. But C.J. did a great job on defense, pressuring the ball. And Ari came in and I think after he missed the first one he got the jitters out a little and made some big shots for us. As a matter of fact, after he hit the first one we went back to him a couple of times and he delivered on those. He had the hot hand and I have all the confidence in the world in him, and he made some big shots for us.’‘
Occasionally you’ll see a play that means absolutely nothing about the outcome of the game but will tell you as much about a player as any stat on a sheet. One of Oral Roberts’ guards lobbed the ball from the top of the key to its pretty impressive big man, Kevin Ford, right of the lane. Harris was out on the perimeter guarding his man, but he dug down in a snap to knock the ball loose out of bounds. A nano-second later and the best he does is foul Ford. He did it like he’s been doing it all his life. Nothing came of it, but I was impressed.
I’m also impressed with both players’ demeanor, who they are. Both are positive, upbeat personalities who seem to be having great fun doing what they’ve been striving to do for many years. I look forward to getting to know them better.
Coach Scott Sutton of Oral Roberts was highly complimentary.
“I like both of those freshmen,’’ Sutton said. “I thought they played well. I thought Stewart hit some big shots in the second half. It looked like he had a beautiful stroke. He’s going to be an important part of this team if they’re going to be as good as they want to be.’‘