Harris is on the defensive

Two games into the Breakdown Battle for the Rankings camp last weekend Dashan Harris not only established himself as one of the top point guards in the camp but one of the top players in general.

And he did it by hardly scoring a bucket.

The 6-foot, 165-pound point guard from Montverde (Fla.) Academy put on a defensive show and valued passing the ball instead of taking bad shots like so many other guards at the camp. If assist stats were recorded, it wouldn't be a big surprise to see his name at the top of list.

Harris locked up any player that stepped in front of him and no one got past him with the ball. The springy guard met big players at the rim and blocked shots at the basket. As a floor general he showed off a mature game and fed the post just as good as he found his shooters on the wings.

Montverde Academy head coach Kevin Sutton said he can already see a difference in his team now that Harris has the ball in his hands.

"It's been a pleasure to coach a player like Dashan because of he understands the game," Sutton said. "He makes players better. We are already a better passing team this year because of him. We are making better plays and taking better shots."

Harris said he would rather shine on the defensive end of the floor instead of being a primary scorer.

"It was good because I really take pride in defense. It was good finding teammates that also value defense like I do. That made the transition even easier," Harris said. "It's a different style of basketball that coaches that I have played for before never instilled in me. I love playing for a coaching staff that values and takes pride in defense.

"When I was younger, I decided I wanted to play defense. A lot of guys just wanted to score and score a lot but my mentality was always to stop them. Since then, I've gotten quicker, faster and stronger so that has been able to help me."

Harris, an Inglewood, Calif. native, enrolled at Montverde in the summer. Since then, he has spent time fine tuning the parts of his game that need the most improvement.

"I've worked a lot on my jump shot. Coach Sutton has really helped me with that. And then we've been working on game time situations with my shot. I'm learning when I need to shoot it or make a decision with the ball."

Certainly a high-major prospect, it comes as no surprise to see the schools on his list. Harris said Arkansas, Florida, Florida State, Indiana, Kansas, North Carolina, USC and UConn are his top schools. Arkansas offered on Monday, Sutton said.

"A few of those schools have said they if I wanted to come there, then they would take me," Harris said. "Those are the main schools looking at me. Me and my dad are talking to the schools and listening to what they have to say. We'll be looking at how the graduate their guys and who they have coming and going."