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  • Aaron Harrison - more athletic, and a better leader this year

    By: LARRY VAUGHT




    He started all 40 games as a freshman and averaged 13.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. Yet the number that Kentucky fans will always remember about Aaron Harrison is 3 — as in three straight game-winning shots in NCAA tournament play that got the Wildcats to the national title game last season.

    It started as part of a 15-point performance against Louisville, when he made a 3-pointer — he made 62 last season — with 39 seconds left to put the Wildcats in front to stay. Next came a dramatic trey with four seconds to play to give Kentucky a 75-72 victory over Michigan in the Elite Eight. But somehow he delivered another game-winning shot when he made a 3-pointer with six seconds left to beat Wisconsin 74-73 in the Final Four.

    Now he’s back for his sophomore season — he went 9 for 20 from 3-point range and averaged 10.3 points per game during Kentucky’s exhibition trip to the Bahamas — after opting not to test his value in the NBA draft and is intent on winning the national title that UK barely missed last year.

    Question: What has life been like after your three game-winning 3-pointers in the NCAA tournament? Have people stopped talking about those shots yet?
    Harrison: “It is pretty cool. Things have not really changed for me, but everyone talks about hitting those shots and all that. It is pretty cool.”

    Question: Has it sunk in to you that probably 40 years from now Kentucky fans will still be talking about those shots when your name is mentioned?

    Harrison: “That will be pretty cool. I don’t want to think 40 years down the road, but being part of any history is just great, especially here.”

    Question: Was it more impressive after the loss at South Carolina that you predicted it was “not over” for Kentucky and how proud are you of the way the team responded after that to make the national title game?

    Harrison: “I really believed that. I knew it wasn’t over because our team was too good and too talented and we fought too hard and struggled too much during the season to go out like that. I knew we had more fight in us than that. What we did in the tournament showed that.”

    Question: In what ways do you expect to be a better player this year?

    Harrison: “Just more athletic and a better leader. Just going back to having fun every day.”

    Question: Was it hard to keep from feeling disappointed after getting the NBA evaluation and deciding to come back?

    Harrison: “Of course, we have wanted to go to the NBA our whole life. It was tough going through that. That was one of the toughest points of my life, trying to make a decision between going out and being a man and getting my job for my life or coming back to school — and Kentucky certainly is not the worst place to be.

    “Everything was so magnified nationally in the media about our decision every day. That made it harder, but my parents helped me a lot mentally. They have always helped me out with that aspect.”

    Question: Why did you start wearing contact lenses midway through last year?

    Harrison: “I don’t think it was a big deal. I am farsighted, so it is not that big a deal.”

    Question: Why did you not wear them before, and are you one of those who didn’t want to put something in your eye?

    Harrison: “That’s why. I didn’t want to do it, but you do what you have to do. I don’t do it easily, but it does done. I still try to avoid wearing them some and just wear when I have to.”

    Question: Will your role change any this year?

    Harrison: “I think I will have to be a better rebounder definitely. Better defender. I want to be a better defender. And definitely being a better leader.”

    Question: Could you see yourself playing at small forward at certain times this year?

    Harrison: “I could do that. I would have to guard bigger players if I do slide down, and that would be fun.”

    Question: As much fun as when you moved to point guard last year?

    Harrison: “That was not as fun. Playing the two and three are different. Playing the point was fun, but you know ... . This year I probably won’t play the point. It would be OK to do it. But just having such a deep team, I probably won’t have to do that.”

    Question: Did your brother Andrew make you such a competitor, did you do that to him or is there another reason why both of you are so competitive?

    Harrison: “I think it is our dad that made us competitors. Well, I don’t know if he made us competitors, but I know it comes from my dad. He is such a competitor and wants to win everything. I think he instilled that in us and it just grew from there.”

    Question: But doesn’t your father also have realistic expectations for you and your teams?

    Harrison: “He’s definitely down to earth. He is not one of those guys that are delusional. He tells it how it is.”

    Question: Do you think fans and the media sometimes misunderstand him?

    Harrison: “Oh, yeah, definitely. Everyone probably thinks he is, like, a mean guy or something. He’s not like that. He’s fun. I think he just looks kind of mean and has a frown. That is part of his intimidation factor.”

    Question: Does that carry over with you and Andrew?

    Harrison: “I think so. We do have that.”

    Question: When you are in the academic world, what classes do you like best?

    Harrison: “I think my CIS — English classes — are the best. I had two great teachers last year. I enjoyed the class and learned a lot. I actually wrote some papers that I enjoyed. I never thought I would say that.”

    Question: What were the papers about?

    Harrison: “We wrote about the Great Depression, and we wrote about Martin Luther King and stuff like that. A couple of other things that I really liked.”

    Question: If you are not playing in the NBA 10 years from now, what could you see yourself doing?

    Harrison: “Probably coaching. I would not mind being a coach whenever my basketball career is over. I think it would depend on how long I play where I would want to coach. If I play a long time in the NBA, probably high school coaching would be cool.”

    Question: Will you be a mentor to freshmen this year based on what you learned last year?

    Harrison: “Just give them tips about what coach (John Calipari) expects and help them out. There were some things last year that I didn’t know that I didn’t get help with, and try to make sure they don’t go through the same things, the kind of things you can only learn by experience like I did last year.”
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    Harlow

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