By: LARRY VAUGHT
Sometimes pressure can overwhelm a player, even a star player. Andrew Harrison understands that, but the top-rated point guard in the 2013 recruiting class insists that won’t happen to him.
He knows the legacy of potent point guards Kentucky coach John Calipari has produced — Tyreke Evans, Derrick Rose, John Wall, Brandon Knight and Marquis Teague — before the string ended last year. However, he’s confident he’s more than equal to the challenge of once again giving Calipari a star point guard and needed team leader.
“I am getting used to the pressure. That is pretty much why you work hard every day,” the 6-foot-6 Harrison said. “I definitely like those expectations on me, and that’s what I am going to try and do. I am going to try to get my teammates involved and make the best situation for them and play defense. I don’t mind the pressure.
“All the kids here are used to having really big accolades and used to being best players in their states. I am sure they are not worried about it. Being ranked preseason No. 1, though, doesn’t mean anything. You have to embrace it and win. Besides, when you have the best scoring guard (Aaron Harrison) and the best power forward (Julius Randle) and what I believe the best small forward in James (Young), it makes it easier for you to make plays. My job is not going to be that hard at all.”
Harrison likes the way Calipari has defined his expectations of him.
“Coach Calipari is really straightforward and blunt. He doesn’t guarantee you anything. He talked to me about toughness. I feel like I can bring that to the team,” Harrison said. “It is just being mentally tough and knowing that whatever he says, he is trying to help you no matter what he says. I feel like my dad helped me with that. He was always really hard on me and Aaron. I feel like I can take anything from any coach in the right way and use it to improve.”
He averaged 15.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists as a senior at Travis High School in Richmond, Texas, for the Class 5A state champions. He also averaged 12.5 points, 6.0 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 2.1 steals as a junior.
It was no surprise when Harrison and his twin brother, Aaron, both decided to play for Kentucky.
“We always knew we would go to the same school, but we both liked Kentucky equally. It’s not like he wanted to go to one place and me another. We felt like it was best for us,” Andrew Harrison said.
Harrison is known as an intense, no-nonsense competitor who can get into the lane and create for teammates.
What makes him different from other point guards?
“My size, my fearlessness and just my ability to win,” said Harrison, who insists he could also play shooting guard if needed.
He also considers himself a lock-down defender, something Kentucky lacked at point guard last year after the departure of Teague for the NBA.
“I don’t want anybody to ever score off me. That’s what I live off of. If somebody scores off you, that is something somebody can write about, so that is why I try to lock everybody down that I go against,” Harrison said.
He says there is nothing that difficult about playing point guard for Calipari.
“I enjoy everything. I enjoy the expectations on me. I know I have to work hard to fulfill those expectations. I am not really worried about anything right now,” he said. “I definitely take pride in the expectations people have for us and the expectations Coach has for us and calling us pit bulls. I think me and my brother do. Not being a bully, just doing what you have to do. We have always been that way.”
He doesn’t think having more depth at Kentucky than his high school team had will make him any more foul-prone on defense.
“I can’t be in foul trouble here because my team will still need me. I have to be smart about it, but I still have to play aggressive and hard,” he said.
Harrison said both him and his brother did push-ups when they were younger.
“The push-ups were my dad’s idea. He didn’t do them, just watched. We were probably about 9 or 10. We definitely grumbled, but it made us better at the end, and he knew that,” Harrison said.
But he doesn’t think his physicalness is what separates him from other point guards.
“I think it is mentally and toughness. Whatever spot you want to get to, it is whoever wants it worse or bad enough. That is my approach,” he said.
The Harrisons did not attend summer school at UK. However, Andrew Harrison he spent plenty of time at home in Texas working on his game.
“I worked out with (former NBA player) John Lucas, ran a lot with my dad, put up a lot of shots every day and tried to stay on top of my game,” he said.
His father had them run “some suicides in the gym, some hills” and other some longer runs.
“Of course, Dad didn’t actually run, he just watched,” Harrison said.
Lucas helped the twins when they were younger and had them playing against professional players when they were in the eighth grade.
“We had to come in and pick it up because they would not take it easy on you. So he helped me a lot,” Harrison said. “He definitely said with all the hype around me and Aaron that everybody is going to try and go at us here at Kentucky. That is fine. That comes with going to Kentucky and all that stuff. Not many people get this opportunity that I do to play at Kentucky, so you have to take advantage of that and take the good with the bad.”
He also said not to take his lack of emotion or celebration on the court as a sign he’s not having fun.
“I think it is my personality. When I do something good, I don’t smile or anything,” he said. “I feel like I have to go back down and get this stop. When I do something bad, some people say I am overemotional with the refs and stuff, and I agree with that and (am) working on that. But I just hate to lose. I am trying to fix it and be calm.
“It’s nothing selfish at all. I am not really worried about myself or what it makes me look like. I just don’t want to lose. I think best players are like that. I just try to play the game the best as I can and always want to win.”
He’ll even get frustrated with his brother at times on the court.
“Off the court, we are just regular kids and look out for each other and all of our teammates. We just like to have fun,” he said. “We get upset with each other about stuff on the basketball court, but besides that, not really much at all. We know what each other is going to. It just comes from the years of playing together and just knowing where each other likes the ball and stuff.”
Even though he’s being projected as another one-and-done point guard like Evans, Rose, Wall, Knight and Teague, Harrison says it is not something he has thought about.
“We don’t talk about that in the Harrison household. We just take it one step at a time and trust in God’s plan for us,” he said. “It would be a blessing to play in the NBA, but we have to do our best at Kentucky. That’s just the way we are. We don’t really think about stuff like that.”
He also won’t worry about the passion of Kentucky fans.
“I played football until high school started. I used to really love playing football. I played receiver and my brother was quarterback. Texans are really passionate about football, but I think the basketball is a little bit more hectic here. It is a little crazy,” he said. “People waiting outside your dorm room, and stuff is a little scary. It all comes with the territory. I knew what I was getting into and what playing here meant, so it’s all good.
“You have the greatest fan base in the country at Kentucky. They expect a lot out of you. They expect you not to lose games or anything. I can’t promise that, but I can promise that we will play hard every game.”
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