Story published: Friday, Jul. 25, 2008
Opinion: Harris has promising summer
Andy Marso
sportswriter
It’s not every day that an Olathe high school athlete gets a mention on ESPN.com, but Chelsea Harris found herself in that heady territory last week.
Harris, who started at guard for Olathe East last year as a sophomore, appeared in the Web site’s high school girls basketball (HoopGurlz) section after impressing writer Chris Hansen at the AAU 15-and-under Division I National Championships in West Chester, Ohio.
Hansen identified Harris as one of the players who had made a case to be included in HoopGurlz’ list of the top 100 recruits in the class of 2010 and wrote this about her:
“Chelsea Harris of Overland Park, Kan., put on a shooting display. The 5-7 guard shot the ball well from all ranges. She knocked down threes, hit mid range jumpers and was smooth from the free-throw line. The KC Shock’s combo guard is one to keep an eye on. If she gets stronger to finish some three-point play opportunities she could develop into a really nice player.”
Harris said the ESPN.com blurb was a pleasant surprise.
“I really didn’t think I played as well as they said I did,” Harris said. “But it was really exciting.”
Harris may have caught Hansen’s attention when her team, the KC Shock, faced the Memphis Elite in the opening day of the tournament during pool play. The Elite featured point guard Lauren Avant, who is the top-ranked prospect in the class of 2010 and has already committed to the University of Tennessee.
Avant was recently featured in Sports Illustrated, but Harris said she didn’t know one of the girls she faced is considered a surefire NCAA Division-I superstar. She did know that the Elite was a great team, though, and said it was exciting that the Shock gave them a scare before losing.
“I don’t think they took us really seriously in the first half,” Harris said. “They were probably like ‘Oh, this team isn’t much, we’re probably going to blow them out.’ But we have a lot of guards who can really shoot well.”
Count Harris among that group. She merged as the Hawks’ top 3-point threat in her first varsity season last winter, and also led the team in steals and assists. Her high-profile summer squaring off against players like Avant, has only increased her confidence and convinced her that she’s got even more to give the Hawks next season.
“I definitely think I could step up as a leader,” Harris said. “We’ve got a lot of young players coming up and I really want to help them understand the difference between junior high and high school (basketball).”
Harris has been motivated this year by the memory of East’s last game, a 38-30 loss to Free State in the opening round of the playoffs.
Paige Gibson was the only Hawk who got going offensively in that contest, scoring 16 points. The rest of the team struggled, including Harris, who scored three points on 1-of-7 shooting. She’s determined not to go out like that again.
“It was really frustrating, because I thought we had a really good chance at beating them and then we’d get another shot at (Olathe) South,” Harris said. “But it just didn’t work out. It gave us a lot of stuff to improve on for next year.”
Harris is doing her part to fuel that improvement, if ESPN.com is any indication.