CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The pain remained the day after for St. John’s. Reality also set in for the Red Storm seniors, that their memorable careers were indeed over, finished with Friday night’s 76-64 NCAA Tournament loss to San Diego State.
“I really couldn’t sleep last night,” Harrison said Saturday, before heading back to Queens. “It hurt for sure.”
Harrison and fellow core seniors Sir’Dominic Pointer and Phil Greene IV became beloved on campus, cherished for their loyalty and fight. Part of coach Steve Lavin’s third-ranked recruiting class four years ago, they were the only ones who made it through four years, where others left early for the NBA (Moe Harkless, JaKarr Sampson), transferred (Nurideen Lindsey, Amir Garrett), or didn’t qualify (Norvel Pelle).
“We overcame a little bit of everything,” Harrison said. “It’s a unique group like Coach Lav always says. We’ve been through the craziest four years you can go through, with the players and the guys we had, suspensions, all that stuff. It’s tough, but it’s time to move forward now.”
They all finished with more than 1,000 points to their credit — Harrison became the school’s third all-time leading scorer (2,178) — and back-to-back 20-win campaigns. The trio reached the postseason in their final three years, though they went just 1-7 across their careers and accumulated a 71-60 record overall.
“We always kept fighting, even in tough times, we always fought back, and came through,” Greene said. “That’s how I want to be remembered, as a fighter.
“I love my experience at St. John’s, the brothers I came here with. It just didn’t finish how I wanted it to. But I wouldn’t change anything.”
Harrison, in particular, was a success story, maturing into the face of the program after his suspension to close his sophomore year, maintaining his passion and intensity while gaining control of his emotions. The Texas native is set to graduate this spring.
“He represents everything that’s good about college athletics from the standpoint that he came in as a young person who needed to mature in some respects,” Lavin said, “and by the end of his career he was a first-class representative of this university and will go down as one of the great players in the history of our program and has a bright future in basketball. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s the head coach at St. John’s some day.”
Pointer, Greene, Harrison and fellow senior Jamal Branch will look to play professionally at some level. Harrison has his sights set on the NBA and said he and Pointer will take part in the Portsmouth Invitational, a four-day showcase in front of NBA scouts for the nation’s best seniors. Though a long shot to get drafted, the 6-foot-4 Harrison likely will get a shot on an NBA summer league team.
“I’m pretty sure a team is going to need me off the bench to score,” Harrison said. “I’m pretty confident in what I do. I’ll drop a few pounds, get a little stronger. Just get ready. It’s going to be a tough road.”