Guard Departs After One Forgettable Season in Laramie
LARAMIE -- Jared Harris, we hardly knew ye.
The once Top-100 national prospect and four-star recruit appeared in just 12 games in what would end up being his lone season in Laramie, battling a undisclosed toe injury that sidelined him over the final two-plus months of the year.
He is now entering the NCAA Transfer Portal, becoming the fifth Cowboy to announce his decision to hit the open market.
Fellow guards Damarion Dennis and Adam Harakow are already in, as are forwards Abou Magassa and Simm-Marten Saadi.
The who's who of college basketball courted Harris out of Silsbee High School after he poured in 21.4 points and snagged nearly six rebounds a night as a senior. He sank 309 field goals that season, the 45th-best mark in the country.
Kansas came calling. So did Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss, Oklahoma and Kansas State. In-state programs like Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, TCU, SMU and Houston offered, too,
Harris eventually landed at Memphis, where he appeared in just 16 games, averaging three minutes an outing.
Looking for a "fresh start," the sophomore landed in Laramie.
"He's super talented," Wyoming head coach Sundance Wicks said back in October. "I always tell him, man, he's got such a ceiling. His ceiling is so high. I don't quite know where his floor is yet, because he hasn't been on the court at the Division-I level, but I do know that, from our practice stats, he wins a lot on whatever team he's on, and he impacts winning that way."
Harris' coming-out party came in a 93-56 home win over Portland in mid-November. The 6-foot-2 guard drained 5-of-10 attempts from the field, including four triples, while finishing with a career-high 16 points. He also added four rebounds and a pair of steals. All of that damage came in just 17 minutes on the floor.
The only other time he reached double figures was in a victory over Dartmouth. Harris went 3-for-6 from the field and hit 5-of-6 free throws to cap that outing with 11 points.
"All the potential is in him, for him to be one of the better players to ever come out of Wyoming," Wyoming assistant Chris McMillian said in the preseason.
What would be the thing to hold Harris back? It's all between the ears, he added.
"You can be a nice guy off the court, but at some point in time, you got to be a dog on the court every single possession like you have something to prove," McMillian continued. "So, I think once he can turn that switch on, because he's shown glimpses, he's got a chance to be special."
Turns out, it was a nagging setback that left Harris in street clothes and a walking boot over the final 20 games.
The portal will remain open until April 21.
Here is what we know so far: