Trending
MORGANTOWN -- We are about to flip the page from November to December.
You know, Christmas, New Year's Eve, my birthday.
Two out of three ain't bad.
It's a time to celebrate for all of us, really, but this year it is a truly special month for West Virginia basketball player, Josiah Harris
He will walk and get up his bachelor's degree in communication studies at this year's December 16 ceremony.
So what, you ask.
So this — he's a sophomore..
That, of course, tells a lot about the basketball player who's called JoJo for short.
He's smart. He's determined. He understands what's important in life and to him, this is most important because it is a gift to his 93-year-old great-grandmother, as well as to himself.
Remember, we're talking about a degree halfway through his sophomore year.
"My great-grandma, she said before she passed away, she wanted to see me graduate, so I feel like that's an amazing thing to accomplish for her and I'll get to see her face when I'm on that stage," Harris said during a media session just before the current season began.
Rest assured, when he goes on stage there will be a big rooting section there from his family for he is one of six children, two sisters and three brothers.
"My biggest thing is seeing my siblings growing up, I wanted to not only be a great role model to them on the basketball court, but off the court as well," Harris said. "I want to show them that it's bigger than just sports and you can be good with your education as well."
The importance of obtaining a degree is being magnified quite a bit this season with the West Virginia team, for the entire controversy with the NCAA and its transfer rule involving fifth-year transfer player RaeQuan Battle would not have happened had he already earned his degree.
December is critical in more ways than just academically for Harris, as WVU struggles through its early season schedule. Harris finds himself mired in a deep shooting slump and must find a way out of it and his next chance to do that comes on Friday, Dec. 1 when St. John's visits the Coliseum for a 7 p.m. game.
The offense has been centered around Jesse Edwards and Quinn Slazinski, but there is help coming in December when transfer guard Kerr Kriisa's nine-game suspension ends. That will give the Mountaineers the playmaking point guard who can set up the shooters, but the shooters have to be making shots to take advantage of it.
Right now, that's not happening and WVU barely escaped on Sunday evening against Bellarmine when it managed to make only 3 of 16 3-point shots.
Harris, who normally sets up in the corner when WVU is on offense, missed all five of his field goal attempts in that game, including four 3s. He is scoreless over the past two games and has gone 87 minutes without making a field goal, the last one being a dunk against SMU.
Eilert makes no doubt that he believes Harris will come out of it, but also leaves no doubt that it is a crucial element in WVU's success that he does.
For the year he is just 10 for 44 from the floor and 5 of 25 from 3.
"I think he's taking good threes, and they're going to fall eventually," Eilert said. "We, as a coaching staff, went through a lot of sets at shoot-around, and I think he was 10 for 10. I don't know what flipped the switch come game time. He's going to have a breakout game sooner rather than later."
Considering the approach that Harris took toward advancing his academic career, one has to believe the same determination in basketball will be rewarded.
"I just took the classes and got it done," he said. "I just did the work. I don't think it's anything crazy, but I do think it's a blessing."
And pile up they did.
"I don't remember the exact amount, but it was a lot," he said.
And when he arrived for his freshman year, he took an extra heavy course load to put himself where he is at present.
"Every time I talk to him, it's just an incredible story on how he can graduate that quickly," Eilert said earlier this year. "He looked at me and said, 'They're paying for it. Why wouldn't I take as many classes as I can?' You just don't hear that from college athletes anymore. He's taking advantage of what's put in front of him."
Now, all he needs to do is find the range from the Coliseum floor and December will be even more of a month to remember.