WFU's Harris hurtles the 'wall'

Freshman C.J. Harris of Wake Forest has the spring back in his step. He's smiling more. He's more attentive and focused in practice. And his shots are falling.

"I feel like whatever I shoot is going in," Harris said.

His coach, Dino Gaudio, noticed the difference even before Harris snapped out of his late-season slump with 26 points over the past two games.

"He actually looks better," Gaudio said of Harris' demeanor.

The lesson learned is that even when a player hits the dreaded "freshman wall," the wall doesn't have to be impenetrable. Harris is far from the first freshman to catch a second wind and ride it into postseason play.

After missing 28 of 33 shots from the floor over his previous five games, Harris got back on track at Florida State, where he hit 2 of 3 shots from the floor and 7 of 7 from the line for 12 points. He followed with an even better performance, making 5 of 9 shots (including 2 of 5 from 3-point range) and scoring 14 points in Sunday's victory over Clemson.

"I finally got some shots to go down, and my confidence is back up, I feel like," Harris said. "My teammates have the most confidence in me. I'm glad we got a ‘W,' too. So team morale is up, and we're ready to move on."

Al-Farouq Aminu also pulled out of a late-season spiral with 18 points and 12 rebounds against Clemson, but as a sophomore, he didn't have the same excuse as freshmen Harris and Ari Stewart. Mid-term exams can be a heavy load for any freshman at Wake Forest, but especially for one playing his first season of college basketball and one as diligent in his class work as Harris, the only Deacon to make the ACC's all-academic team.

Midterms ended March 5.

"I think that's why freshmen hit that little block, especially when you come back from over the break where you've been able to focus on just basketball," Aminu said two weeks ago at the start of midterms. "You haven't had to worry about schoolwork and basketball.

"The first couple of weeks of the year, school really hasn't started. Now by this time, school has really started, and you're up doing papers and things like that. You're not just playing basketball. You actually have to be a student, too.

"I think that's what it was for me. I was just so jammed up with papers and stuff like that, trying to make sure I'm eligible. And I think my performance out on the court slipped a little bit.

The late-season doldrums cost Harris a spot in the starting lineup, but Gaudio described the move as less of a demotion than an effort to alleviate burden. Harris started 20 straight games before being replaced by sophomore Tony Woods at Florida State and by senior David Weaver against Clemson.

Gaudio said that Tony Hanson, the video coordinator, compiled video clips of Harris playing well early in the season to help boost Harris' confidence. There was plenty to choose from, the 19-point performance at Gonzaga, the 18 points at Duke, the 20 points at North Carolina.

Before the slump, Harris was averaging 11.2 points. He's currently averaging 10 points.

"When I put him on the bench, and I put my arm around him that practice leading up to that game," Gaudio said. "I said, ‘C.J. I have all the confidence in the world in you. You're a terrific player. I wouldn't trade you for anybody in this league as a rookie. Now the only reason I'm going to sit you down is I think it might take some pressure off you. So just sit down and try to get into the game a little bit mentally before you go out there, and then you'll be fresh.'"

Gaudio had two suggestions concerning Harris' game.

"Like I've told him all year, I said, ‘C.J., when you're open, shoot it. Don't think twice.'" Gaudio said. "The other thing I told him was, ‘You're really good attacking the basket. Don't be afraid to dribble-drive and try to draw some fouls,' because he's a good free-throw shooter.

"But he bounced back. So I think that bodes well for us going into Greensboro."

dcollins@wsjournal.com

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