GREEN & WHITE BASKETBALL

Injured Harris embracing new role as emotional leader

Cody J Tucker
Lansing State Journal

TULSA, Okla. -- Walking down the hallway deep inside the bowels of BOK Center on Saturday afternoon, the Spartans looked like a loose basketball team.

One by one, they filed into the locker room after their final practice in preparation for a second-round meeting with top-ranked Kansas Sunday night.

Trailing the pack was Eron Harris.

Injured MSU senior Eron Harris ,center, applauds as the time runs out on the Spartans' win over Nebraska Thursday February 23, 2017 in East Lansing.  KEVIN W. FOWLER PHOTO

Wearing a black sweatshirt with the hood pulled over his head and his headphones underneath, the Michigan State senior danced his way down the concrete corridor. He looked alone in his own world at one point before cracking a joke with some of his coaches.

Harris has always gone to the beat of his own drum.

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“I’m just thankful to be here,” he said with a grin as he laid on the floor of the Spartans crowded locker room watching the dying minutes of the Wisconsin-Villanova game on a small television in the corner. “This is my first time going to the second round of the tournament. I’ve only got to play in it one time.”

Aside from a smile, Harris was also sporting a black knee brace that extended from his right ankle to his thigh. It’s a gruesome reminder of what he has lost this year.

It is also a symbol of what he has become.

MSU head coach Tom Izzo praised Harris for his attitude and character after a come-from-behind 78-58 blowout win over the Miami Hurricanes in round one of the NCAA Tournament Friday night. He called him a leader and gave him credit for helping the young Spartans overcome an early 17-5 deficit.

That’s high praise for a guy who hasn’t stepped foot on the court since tearing his ACL in a road loss to Purdue in mid-February.

“He could’ve just hung his head,” Izzo said during his press conference Saturday, “But he has been with us every meeting and through everything that has happened. I really appreciate what he’s meant to this team.”

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Kyle Ahrens, a sophomore from Versailles, Ohio, and a roommate of Harris, joked that he feels like he lives with one of the coaches now. Ahrens can relate to what his teammate is going through. In high school, he broke his left leg, costing him playing time and putting a college scholarship in jeopardy.

“It was one of the hardest things,” Ahrens said of watching his teammate go down in West Lafayette. “I’ve been hurt, but I couldn’t imagine being done with my college career like that. I have all the respect in the world for him.”

This certainly wasn’t how Harris pictured wrapping up his career in East Lansing. But then again, not much has gone as planned for the senior, who spent three seasons at MSU after transferring from West Virginia.

Admittedly, the past month has been tough on Harris. He is used to playing, preparing and leading on the court. Izzo even dubbed Harris his best defender and said he wishes he could suit up Sunday night and defend Kansas star, Frank Mason III.

Physically, Harris isn’t there. Mentally, he said, he is on top of his game. And everyone else’s.

“When you are a veteran, you have to be leading. It’s an around-the-clock job,” Harris said. “I am just always myself, and I want to show toughness and be vocal, honest and encouraging. It’s really hard at times. Sometimes it’s unbearable and I almost come to tears. I want to be out there.”

When Harris laid on the floor in pain that Sunday in his home state of Indiana, one month ago today, his teammates were visibly rattled. Some were even brought to tears as their senior leader left the court on a stretcher. Purdue won the game that day, but Harris, standing with the help of crutches, let his team know that even though his career was over, their season wasn’t.

It was time to fight.

“It was hard, but I think it made it easier with how accepting he was of it and how confident and positive he was about the whole situation,” MSU sophomore Kenny Goins said. “Just having him be calm eased the situation for us all.”

On Feb. 26, in front of a capacity crowd on senior day, Harris came out of the tunnel one last time at Breslin Center. In full uniform, Harris stood with tears in his eyes as his mother, Marveda Saunders, sang the national anthem. He had no idea she was coming. The emotion of the moment is one he said still gets him to this day.

The surprises didn’t end there.

With the Spartans leading Wisconsin by double-digits, Izzo gave Harris the nod. He was going to enter the game and receive a proper senior sendoff.

Harris hobbled to center court, where he lowered himself to the floor and pressed his lips to the Spartan logo.

Senior Eron Harris ,center, of MSU waves to the crowd after checking into the Spartans' game with Wisconsin Sunday February 26, 2017 in East Lansing.  The last second substitution allowed the injured guard to enter the game and kiss the Spartan at mid-court as he fellow seniors did.  KEVIN W. FOWLER PHOTO

His resolve is just one of the many reasons his mother says she looks up to him.

“I'm extremely proud of him,” Saunders said Friday night from her home in Indianapolis. “He has inspired me to be a stronger person through my day-to-day struggles.

“He's my son, but he's a role model, even for me.”

Harris will lead his Spartan teammates onto the court for maybe the last time Sunday night in Tulsa. He is embracing the small things and trying to help in any way he can.

He doesn’t want this ride to end.