MORGANTOWN -
Eron Harris has found his new home.
It is not Morgantown, per se, but rather one building within
the city that has captivated him and become his sanctuary as he begins his
collegiate career.
The new WVU basketball practice facility is his
‘round-the-clock trainer for all aspects of his body and his game, but it has
turned into much more than that.
The 6-foot-2, 170-pound freshman guard admits that he has
spent many nights working out so late that he ends up sleeping in the facility
only to wake up the next morning right where he needs to be in order to
continue improving for his first season at West Virginia.
With plenty of big screen televisions and places to play his
own music while he works out, the facility has more appealing amenities than he
would find if he went back to a dorm room or an apartment complex.
It truly feels like home with all his teammates – his
friends – right there by his side, each with the same goals for the coming
season, all under one roof.
Also under that roof is Andy Kettler, the team's strength
coach. Freshmen typically hear horror stories of how a few hours in Kettler's
care will leave them feeling, but the results are worth it.
Harris admits that although he knew the transition to
college would be difficult, he did not anticipate just how grueling it would
be.
"I got in the weight room and the weight training coach, I
didn't know he was as crazy as he was," Harris says of Kettler. "He was pushing
us to muscle failure and then beyond that. I've never been pushed that far, so
that was just a new eye-opener for me."
He uses the term "crazy" in an endearing manner, of course.
He knows that crazy could come in handy on the days when Harris himself is not
up for pushing himself. It will be those days that Kettler and the fine equipment
he oversees can keep Harris moving toward his goals.
"I know that in the end, I'll come out and I'll benefit from
that and that's the only reason we do it," says Harris. "If I didn't think it
would produce results, I wouldn't do it at all. I'd go home."
Besides, that's what Kettler is there for. Why deny a coach
his duties?
"It's his life. He comes, he makes us lift, he goes home and
goes to sleep. That's all he does," Harris says, laughing. "He's really
dedicated to that and I appreciate that."
Harris needs that sort of attention, too. The game he
prefers to play is one where contact with players far bigger than himself is
common. When driving to the basket against high schoolers and those he met in
the AAU circuit, he matched up fine. College is a different beast.
"The last couple years of my career, I've kind of looked for
contact because contact hypes me up. It gives me a little more confidence," he
says. "When a bigger guy tries to post me up and I get in front of him and take
the ball, that hypes me up."
He is also acutely aware that what he did before WVU will
change depending on where he is most needed on the court. Vowing not to be a
player who stays on the perimeter all game, Harris is excited to mix it up down
low to fight for rebounds when the opportunity presents itself.
Still, he is getting shots up in the gym as often as he can
because he understands how much the Mountaineers were lacking production from
the field the year before he arrived.
If sinking a deep jumper is his quickest way to crack the
lineup, he wants to make sure he is ready for just that.
"I feel like my three-point shot is my first attack. I'm not
a point guard," Harris says. "I'm going to rotate where I can to get the ball
and knock down a shot because that's what's expected."
And what is expected is precisely what Harris hopes to bring
West Virginia. He knows that is the only way to please his head coach, which is
goal No. 1 for just about any freshman.
"I hear that when the season comes, he [Bob Huggins] flips a
switch on and he's in your face and he's real," says Harris. "He's going to
tell you what it is and either you're going to take it or you're not and you're
going to sit on the bench."
Harris has no intention of getting accustomed to the feel of
the bench beneath him rather than the hardwood of the court. That's why he
spends nights in the practice facility.
While others are sleeping, he is dreaming of his freshman
season at WVU and doing all he can to make it play out just the way he
envisions it will.
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2013 WorldNow and WVILL. All Rights Reserved.
