Virginia picked up a top-shelf midseason transfer commit over the weekend, in the form of former Georgetown point guard Dante Harris.
Harris averaged 11.9 points. 4.1 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game for Georgetown in 2021-2022.
The 6’0” junior will have three years of eligibility remaining.
He had entered the transfer portal on Dec. 5.
Harris, a three-star prep prospect, had been sitting out this season after making 50 starts over the previous two seasons at Georgetown, averaging 31.3 minutes per game.
He was a high-usage guy there, averaging 10.3 shot attempts per game, shooting just 36.5 percent from the floor and 26.8 percent from three.
But his 89.7 percent free-throw mark in 2021-2022 probably suggests he’s a good shooter, and was just being asked to do too much for bad Georgetown teams.
Somehow, Patrick Ewing still has a job there after going 6-25 last season.
The offseason got bumpy for Ewing, with six players leaving via the transfer portal in the spring.
Harris, who was the Most Outstanding Player in Georgetown’s surprise run to the 2021 Big East Tournament title, had been expected to be the only returning starter, but over the summer he announced he would be stepping away from the program, citing “personal reasons.”
Among the person reasons could be that Ewing has just one winning season in his five-plus seasons at his alma mater, and a cumulative 73-91 record.
John Thompson III got run out of town, you might remember, after back-to-back losing seasons (15-18 and 14-18) in 2015-2016 and 2016-2017.
Thompson was 278-151 overall in 13 seasons at Georgetown, with eight NCAA Tournament appearances and a Final Four, in 2007.
Ewing has been to one NCAA Tournament to date, and ain’t getting back to one this year.
So, Harris, after a couple of years in that dumpster fire, saw the light, decided to transfer out, and has landed himself in a great spot at Virginia, where he will at the least take the spot in the backcourt that will be left open by Kihei Clark, whose time at UVA will be up in the spring after a five-year run that includes, to this writing (!), one national title.
Harris told On3Sports’ Joe Tipton that he hopes to be able to add to whatever the total is after this spring.
“I’m very humbled to be a part of the UVA family. I look forward to doing my part and continuing to keep our program as one of the premier programs in the country. I’m looking forward to bringing another national title to Charlottesville. Go Hoos!” Harris said.
This news is huge for Tony Bennett, who had struck out on several attempts to land a point guard in his 2023 recruiting class.
And actually, getting a player the caliber of Harris, who already has two years of college experience under his belt, and those three years of eligibility remaining, is probably better anyway.
Harris has the option of joining the roster in the spring, but barring something unexpected – basically, a season-ending injury to either Clark or Reece Beekman – he will redshirt this season and use the next few months to begin classes at UVA and lead the scout team.
And with Beekman a projected first-round draft pick, Harris could be the lone guy at point next year.
Assuming, as I do, that Beekman declares and then stays in the draft in the spring, the backcourt rotation would consist of:
- Harris, Armaan Franklin (who has a year of eligibility after this season), Isaac McKneely as the projected starters.
- Class of 2023 four-star combo guard Elijah Gertrude, current second-year player Taine Murray and Leon Bond, a four-star in the Class of 2022 who is redshirting this season, competing for minutes off the bench.
Note: I’m slotting, for these purposes, 6’8” De’Andre Hunter clone Ryan Dunn as a four next season. That would put him in the mix with Kadin Shedrick, the starter at five, Isaac Traudt, a four-star forward/center who is redshirting this season, and Blake Buchanan, a four-star Class of 2023 recruit, for minutes in the frontcourt next season.
I see room for another transfer to compete in the frontcourt next season, perhaps in the mold of Ben Vander Plas, a stretch four who can defend in the post and rebound.
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Chris Graham
