Wake Forest Athletics
Gold Rush Feature: Young Leader
11/8/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 8, 2010
This article was originally published in the Oct. 30 edition of Gold Rush.
By Sam Walker
It's a new day for Wake Forest basketball, and nobody knows that better than C.J. Harris.
Harris is the team's only returning starter, starting 21 of 31 games last season, and he's just a sophomore. The Deacons have a new head coach, Jeff Bzdelik, who is bringing his style of play, his philosophy and terminology to a team with five freshmen that will be counted on to produce - immediately. It's a new day, and Harris has possibly the deepest understanding of what this team needs to do to be relevant this year in the ACC.
Pundits aren't giving the team much of a chance. Wake Forest was picked by the ACC media to finish dead last at the league's preseason media event -- the 2010 ACC Operation Basketball held Oct. 20 in Charlotte. The Deacons have one senior, Gary Clark, and although Clark has 77 game appearances to his credit, he doesn't have a single start.
So there's good news and bad news for this edition of the men's basketball team. The bad news is experience can't be considered a strength. The good news is in basketball, if you can play, you have a chance to win no matter how old you are or how much experience you might have.
Bzdelik knows well what it takes to win at the college and NBA levels, having coached in both. So, he's handed over the mantle of leadership to Harris and Clark.
"C.J. Harris and Gary Clark will be my two leaders," Bzdelik said. "C.J., I think, was runner-up to Rookie of the Year last season and was up there in terms of votes. He is going to be someone counted on heavily and in a lot of ways to provide leadership through his performance and through his verbiage in the locker room and on the court. C.J. and Gary are going to be heavily counted on to provide leadership."
Harris, a local product from nearby Mount Tabor High School, made quite an impact as a freshman. He was named the league's Rookie of the Week four times, but he played on a veteran team with a savvy senior point guard in Ishmael Smith. Nonetheless, Harris proved himself, averaging 9.9 points per game (third on the team) and shooting a deft 83 percent from the free throw line. Change was on the horizon for the Deacons this season with or without a head coaching change, and Harris said he is enjoying his new head coach and the big changes that have come with him.
"I enjoy his personality," Harris said. "The first day he came to campus, he met with all of us, talked to all of us and really got to know us first. Last year, we were more packed in on defense. This year, we will probably extend our defense a little more and get into some passing lanes more than we did last year. We're going to do our best to provide offense from our defense."
Harris played both the point in relief of Smith last season and off-guard, where he became more of a scoring threat. He has earned a year's worth of education with experience in both roles. Now he leads a young team Bzdelik says has some key ingredients already in place.
"We're extremely young with five freshman, two sophomores, two juniors and only one senior, but they're enthusiastic, passionate, they care, and they want to get better. I really enjoy coaching them," Bzdelik said.
"We're going to get up and down the court, and push the ball off makes and misses, and be in attack mode at all times," Bzdelik said. "Spacing is a big key for us. We're going to be small, but at the same time we're going to put four players out on the perimeter who can really shoot the basketball and can drive it, so I think it will be tough to match-up with us from a defensive standpoint.
"We'll look to manufacture threes off drives and kicks and attack the rim, and the fact we can shoot the ball will really open up the court for us. People are going to have to respect that. So getting to the line and attacking the rim and pushing the ball with unselfishness is probably the best way to describe us."
Harris should like the style of play Bzdelik wants to implement. Just as in recent years, it is designed to be fast-paced and aggressive. Harris' role will be different, but he'll be at the controls, leading the team, learning day-by-day, and game-by-game. He knows the challenges that lie ahead but embraces them with the notion that this team is better than the pundits say and that he can take over at the point.
"I think I just need to stay within my boundaries," Harris said. "I don't have to go out and do what Ish (Smith) did or do what Jeff (Teague) did before him. I just need to do what I can do and also do what Coach Bzdelik instructs me to do.
"I'll run more point guard this year. The ball will be in my hands a lot more this year, and I'll be setting up the offense a lot more this year. My challenge is to be able to lead the team on the court and off the court. The group has all the pieces. They can shoot. They can drive. We have some bigs. They can do pretty much anything we need them to do."
Leadership was the one ingredient Harris didn't have to have last season. He had the luxury of Ishmael Smith playing the role of inspirational leader while he learned about basketball in the ACC. Harris will have to develop his own leadership style, but he knows he doesn't have to do it alone, and Bzdelik knows mistakes come with youth.
"What I need to do is be patient, and I want our players to be fearless about making mistakes but playing through mistakes," Bzdelik said. "Be aggressive, be enthusiastic, be well prepared, and keep getting them better."
