Call from Bill Self helped Dajuan Harris on path to basketball — and school — success

One of the top two students on Kansas’ 2023-24 men’s basketball team accompanied Bill Self to the KU coach’s weekly Hawk Talk radio show on Wednesday night of Finals Week.

“We have on hand our best student on our team, although ‘Jank’ (Michael Jankovich) could make a case for it,” Self said Wednesday, referring to fifth-year KU guard Dajuan Harris, a three-time, first-team Academic All-Big 12 honoree.

Harris, who has received an undergraduate degree in liberal arts and sciences and is now enrolled in graduate school courses, was “a 3.5 undergrad,” Self said. Senior guard Jankovich apparently has a similar-type GPA.

“Now that Juan is post-grad, we’re waiting on his first semester of graduate classes. He has killed it academically,” Self added of the graduate of Rock Bridge High in Columbia, Missouri.

“Two years ago, he had a 3.98. I don’t know how you make a 3.98. Were you late to class one day?” Self joked, speaking to Harris. “Last year, he was a finalist for first-team Academic All-American. He met the criteria but didn’t get it. I was disappointed because he’d have been our first since Tyrel (Reed) or Cole (Aldrich).

“The remarkable thing,” Self continued, “is in high school he was a (partial academic) qualifier. He could not play his freshman year (serving as a practice player second semester of the 2019-20 season). They wanted to make sure he could do the work academically. He’s shown everybody what he can do.”

Harris revealed on Hawk Talk that arriving as a non-qualifier wasn’t an attractive option back in 2019.

“They were telling me about requirements,” Harris said of the KU coaches. “My grades in high school (and) my GPA were pretty bad. I was about to give up on my school work. I remember I was in the mall with my cousin who lives here now and it was coach Self calling me. We talked. He said, ‘You’ve got to trust the process.’ I did. I’m thankful he called me that day.”

Harris averages 6.1 points a game on 38.6% shooting with 70 assists against 26 turnovers for the No. 2 Jayhawks, who take a 9-1 record into Saturday’s 11:30 a.m. tipoff at (7-2) Indiana. He is 9-of-20 from 3 for 45%.

A year ago, Harris averaged 8.9 points a game with 224 assists to 73 turnovers.

“Coach has been on me this year. I’ve been turning the ball over. I know I have. I’ve got to get back to past years. I will,” said Harris, who leads the Big 12 in assists at 7.0 a game.

Finals week update

The Jayhawks, who defeated Missouri 73-64 on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse, were rewarded with an off day Sunday.

“We practiced hard but not real long Monday and Tuesday. Today was just a shooting practice,” Self said on Hawk Talk. “We’ll go hard tomorrow and Friday. Finals trumps everything this week. Hopefully the guys are working as hard as what they lead you to believe they are.”

Self pointed out that “it’s different for college students now than it was. Back in the day, you have 15 hours, that’s five finals you are taking. You take 18 hours, that’s six. Now with so many classes by arrangement and online, it doesn’t seem quite as hectic as what it was in the past. I could be wrong. I’m not the one going through it, but it doesn’t seem that way to me.”

Self continued: “I’ve asked players, ‘Who has one today? Who has one tomorrow?’ It seems not near as many hands go up. It seems now you have 15 hours, you may have two or three finals as opposed to five. So many things are by arrangement post-Covid.”

Looking back on jersey retirement

Self said former KU forward Thomas Robinson was pleased with his jersey retirement ceremony that took place at halftime of the KU-MU game.

“It means a lot to him. He made that very clear. He texted me right after the game,” Self said of the 32-year-old 2012 Big 12 player of the year and first-team All-American. “I didn’t see him after the game I think in large part because he was bombarded (with so many KU teammates and family members in town).

“Of course he came to our shootaround before the game. We talked then. He has such a beautiful family. It was so good seeing Jayla. I can’t believe she’s 20 and going to school at Florida Atlantic,” Self added.

KU set up a college education fund for Robinson’s sister, Jayla, back in 2011. Jayla and Thomas’ mom, Lisa, passed away during Thomas’ sophomore year at KU. The NCAA allowed KU fans to contribute to the fund.

“Let’s call it like it is: This place and you saved him,” Self told the crowd at Hawk Talk. “I mean when you go through as much heartache and so many people put their arms around you and keep you from falling, he knows that. He recognizes it and appreciates it. It’s why this place means so much to him.”