Sophomore Already Has Offers from Rutgers and Auburn
St. Thomas Aquinas sophomore guard, Jaquan Harris, follows through on a jumper during warm-ups prior to the start of the second half of the Trojans game versus St. Peter’s Prep at the 2019 Celtics Fall League in Elizabeth on October 27th. Harris has already garnered attention from Division I schools with offers from Rutgers and Auburn in October.
NORTH EDISON, NJ—In addition to the recent National Letters of Intent signed by seniors Quadry Adams (Wake Forest) and Derrick Grant (Southern New Hampshire), St. Thomas Aquinas also has a highly touted sophomore in Jaquan Harris, who is also garnering a lot of attention from colleges.
Since transferring in from the Patrick School this summer, Harris has been getting a good deal of attention. In November, he was selected to the 2019 Celtics Fall League All-Star Game along with teammate Adams. Harris also received a couple D1 offers in a week back in October. The North Brunswick native, who also played well for the Trojans in the NJ Top 20 Pre-Season Invitational at Roselle Catholic, received offers from Rutgers and Auburn.
Harris got his first offer from Rutgers on October 22nd, and then got an offer two days later from Auburn on October 24th. GMC Hoops first saw Harris play with the Trojans during the summer at the 2019 Hamilton Park Summer League in Jersey City against Hudson Catholic and The Patrick School. Since that time, Harris has shown improvement every time he has taken the floor in for the Trojans in several games GMC Hoops has covered since in the Celtics Fall League and the NJ Top 20 Pre-Season Invitational.
In a 65-60 win over Rutgers Prep at the Northeast Fall Invite back on October 5th at Roselle Catholic, Harris collected 16 points including two threes, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. Against the Patrick School in the Celtics Fall League on September 22nd, Harris scored 15 points in a five point loss. Following play at the Hamilton Park Summer League, Harris attended the Hoop Group Future All American camp, and was one of the top players with performances like his 17 point, three treys effort on the final day of the event.
Harris was also a bright spot for the Trojans in close losses to St. Peter’s Prep (62-56) at the Celtics Fall League on October 27th, and Roselle Catholic at the NJ High School Pre-Season Top 20 Invitational on November 17th (71-67). He played particularly inspired against the Lions of RC, where he showed tremendous competitiveness as well as a great perimeter game with a number of threes, a dunk, a putback, and an and one that helped the Trojans rally to tie the game late in the second half.
The Aquinas sophomore happens to be the younger brother of former Patrick School standout, Jamir Harris, who teamed up with the likes of big man Nick Richards (Kentucky), Jordan Walker, Al-Amir Dawes, and Marcus McClary (Monmouth) to lead Patrick School to its first TOC title since 2009 when Kyrie Irving played and Kevin Boyle coached at the school when it defeated Don Bosco Prep (69-55) in the 2017 TOC Final at Sun National Bank Center, which is now Cure Insurance Arena in Trenton.
Jamir Harris was a 1,000 point scorer at the Patrick School, and signed with the University of Minnesota, where he appeared in 28 games including two starts for head coach, Rich Pitino. Harris, who scored his 1,000th point at Patrick School at the Hoop Group Battle of the Boardwalk in Lincroft (Brookdale College) on January 7, 2017 against Mater Dei Prep of Middletown, averaged 3.9 points per game including 38 three pointers as a freshman for the Gophers. Harris now plays for American University of the Patriot League, and is averaging 13.3 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game for the Eagles.
Congratulations Jaquan on your accomplishments, and GMC Hoops wishes you many more in the coming years.