Class of 2024's Harris talks about recent UVa visit, offer

One of the recent 2024 prospects to pick up an offer from Tony Bennett and Virginia is Jayden Harris. A 6-foot-6 shooting guard out of Salisbury (NC), Harris is coming off a very productive summer season with Team Loaded on the 3SSB circuit. He visited Charlottesville a couple of weeks ago and walked away with an offer.

“The visit went very well,” Harris told CavsCorner. “I got to see the entire arena and was able to watch the team practice as they were preparing for a foreign trip to Italy. I got to meet and talk with the entire staff and we were able to talk about a lot of different things. I got to take a full campus tour and I had no idea the campus was so nice.”

Harris went in not knowing much about Grounds, meaning that the overall interaction with the university was completely new to him.

“Everything was pretty new to me,” he said. “I have heard so much about them and have watched them play a lot of times but I never knew anything about the campus or how their practices are run so everything was pretty new to me.”

Harris has watched Virginia plenty growing up and understands the way Bennett’s team play.

“They are a disciplined team,” he said. “The coaching staff makes sure the team does the right things and I like how they play with a free playing style and have room to make mistakes.”

He also has a deep understanding that UVa does not offer a lot of prospects, which makes this offer extra special.

“It means a lot to get an offer from Virginia,” Harris said. “Coach Bennett believes in me and my style of play so it really means a lot to me. It would be really cool to play under their program and be another piece of a special program.”

Bennett and Co. seem to really like how Harris can knock down shots and the way he prepares for his shot, which is a reason why the Wahoos think he would fit so well in their system.

“When they watch me play they really like how I come off screens and how I shoot the ball,” Harris said. “With my ability to shoot the ball, they think I would fit in well in their system. They need shooters they said and I think I could help them a lot because of my shooting.”

Recruits always seem to talk about how nice John Paul Arena is and Harris was another in that line of players to rave about it

“The arena is super nice,” he said. “I have seen the arena a lot on tv but to see it in person was really cool. We got to see a video on the jumbotron and that was nice to see. On the practice court they have a really cool piece of technology that can help you be more consistent on your shot.”

At this point Harris’ recruitment looks totally different after his play with Team Loaded this summer as the offers have continued to come in for him.

“The summer went very well,” he recalled. “At the start of the summer I only had one offer but now here in August I have over twenty offers. It is great to see all of the hard work paying off and that is what led to a great summer.”

Along with Virginia, Harris has visited Virginia Tech, NC State, Tennessee, and Richmond.