IU Coach Tom Crean didn’t recruit Jon Harris to play for him at Marquette University, but when Crean took over the head coaching duties during Harris’ sophomore season they instantly connected.
Harris only started 22 career games for Crean as a Golden Eagle but played a pivotal role when he was on the court. Crean said Harris won games for him at Marquette because of the way that he played. He could bring pressure on defense, find people on offense, spread out in the post and was a team captain during his junior and senior years.
In the 2002-2003 season, Harris was a graduate assistant for Crean as the Golden Eagles made a Final Four run with future NBA champion Dwayne Wade leading the way. After that season Harris made multiple stops from Green Bay to Missouri State, Tennessee and California, as an assistant coach.
On Friday night when the SIU-Edwardsville Cougars visit Assembly Hall, Harris will be on the sidelines as a head coach against his former mentor for the first time.
“He was a great teammate, and he grew to be just a fantastic leader for us. That’s one of the reasons I hired him,” Crean said. “He’s got a great presence about him, a great spirit about him, a great family man, and he’s always been a driven guy.”
Harris, a native of Edwardsville, Illinois, took the head-coaching job at SIUE last season.
He was at Green Bay when he connected with then-Purdue assistant coach Cuonzo Martin. When Martin became the head coach at Missouri State, he hired Harris from the start, and the two continued to succeed and improve every year as they moved on to Tennessee and Cal together.
In Harris’ first season at the helm of SIUE, his team posted just a 6-22 record. In year two the Cougars are 4-3, including a road win at Hawaii hours after IU beat Kansas on the same floor.
Crean said the Hoosiers will have to be really good Friday night to beat the Cougars. That is exactly the mentality Harris said Crean always brings to the game.
“I had a great experience playing for him, very intense more or less all the time,” Harris said. “It didn’t matter who you were playing, situation was, time or score. That’s something I’ve learned from him that you gotta approach every day the same regardless of your circumstances, record, whoever you’re playing.”
Harris is trying to re-tool an SIUE program that just transitioned to Division I in 2007. His nephew, Tre’ Harris, is the team’s leading scorer. He averages slightly less than 14 points per game. He transferred from Kansas State when his uncle was named head coach.
While the game fits because of the two teams being in the same region geographically, the reason why the Hoosiers and Cougars scheduled to play one another was because of their relationship. Harris said the Hoosiers are doing the Cougars a favor by playing the game and he appreciates Crean giving them the opportunity to play in Assembly Hall.
When looking at the Hoosiers, Harris said he doesn’t think IU has someone who plays a role similar that he played for Crean, but sophomore forward Juwan Morgan may be the best comparison.
“I was probably a little more interior and a little more rugged than what Juwan is, but Juwan is a guy they move around,” Harris said. “He plays the wing, he handles the ball for them, which I didn’t handle the ball a lot, but I did a little bit, but they move him around, and he’s got good versatility.”
Harris said Crean gave him the opportunity to become a member of his staff when he was fresh out of college and that Crean frosted his mindset of what needed to be done to become a head coach.
He has used lessons that Crean taught him as a player at Marquette during his 14-year career as a coach, but Harris admitted he never would have even imagined he would be lined up as a head coach against Crean when he was a player.
“It will probably be a little bit surreal, honestly, once we get in there and get in the atmosphere,” Harris said. “I think we’re both competitive guys, and once that ball tips you do everything within your power to get a win.”
