Published Nov 19, 2024
Decreased minutes leading to ‘more active’ Dajuan Harris
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Sam Winton  •  JayhawkSlant
Staff Writer
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Dajuan Harris averaged over 34 minutes per game over the past two seasons, and he regularly played in the high 30s, if not the entire game. This was primarily out of necessity, as Kansas didn’t have the depth or trusted backup point guard options.


Through five games, Harris has been playing the fewest minutes since becoming the Jayhawks’ starting point guard in 2021. The fifth-year senior is playing just over 27 minutes per game, with the highest mark being 33 minutes against Michigan State. Kansas has a variety of playmaking guards Bill Self can turn to, decreasing the load on Harris.


“They make it easy for me,” Harris said of Kansas’ depth at guard this season. “Coach has been getting me out the game more than he has throughout the years that I’ve been here. I have more energy on defense too, so I think it’s a great thing.”


Self echoed Harris’ comments about his defensive activity. Harris and the Jayhawks limited UNCW’s leading scorer Donovan Newby to seven points on a 2/9 shooting in Kansas’ 84-66 win. Newby came into the game averaging 22.7 points.


The decreased minutes have helped Harris stay fresher, but Self also thinks there’s been extra juice as Harris begins his final college season.


“He's turned it up. He looks much more active defensively than he was last year,” Self said. “I think lesser minutes is probably helpful, but also with seniors, you know, there's no longer a safety net, too. So I think there's a sense of urgency with guys in their last year, too.”


Harris also impacted the game offensively against UNCW. He led Kansas with 17 points and was aggressively looking for his shot all night. Harris took 10 shots and six threes, both season-highs.


“They basically forced me to shoot the ball, so I just got a lot of shots,” Harris said. “I missed a lot, but I did a lot of scoring.”


Harris has deferred to his teammates a lot this season and still finished the game with six assists. However, he also made an impact scoring the ball.


“Usually my scorers do a lot of scoring, I just make the easy pass or something,” Harris said. “I just stepped up, knew I had to score, so it was a pretty good game.”


Kansas led by just five points at halftime but turned on the jets coming out of the break. Harris helped the Jayhawks get off to a hot start, scoring six points on a 12-2 run that set the tone for a strong second half. Easy looks were generated for Harris and Kansas on the offensive end thanks to an increased defensive effort.


“We just came out with a lot of energy, especially on the defensive end,” Hunter Dickinson said. “I think one thing we didn’t do in the first half was guard our man after the set broke down and was kind of just one-on-one… All them really took their matchups real personal and I think they did a really good job the second half of guarding their man and kind of keeping them out of the paint.”