Dajuan Harris Jr. and Jalen Wilson know it, they need to be leaders for Kansas basketball
LAWRENCE — It’s not lost on Dajuan Harris Jr. or Jalen Wilson, the responsibility they have this season with Kansas basketball.
There were 18 players on the Jayhawks’ national championship roster last season, including four walk-ons. Four super-seniors, two seniors and a junior all wrapped up their college careers with the national title game. Of the six additions to the roster ahead of the 2022-23 campaign, including one walk-on, five are freshmen and one’s a redshirt senior.
Harris, a redshirt junior guard, and Wilson, a redshirt junior forward, each started in the national championship game last season against North Carolina. Of those who returned to Kansas after winning the title, they are the only two who played significant minutes for coach Bill Self’s 2021-22 squad. If there’s anyone on the roster who’s going to be able to best instill what it’ll take to be able to have a chance to be in that position again, it’s Harris and Wilson.
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So while Harris said Self gets on the two of them to keep leading, because of how much experience was lost from a season ago, it’s not as if they’ve forgotten their place. Those talks reinforce what they already know. It’s on Harris and Wilson to lead.
“I think Jalen’s personality is demanding enough and strong enough that he can do it with his personality, and I think (Harris) with his IQ,” Self said. “Dajuan Harris, guys, is one of the smartest, best basketball players I’ve been around. And nobody will know it because the stats don’t say that. But you’ll see a different Dajuan this year because we’re going to put the ball in his hands to make the plays, to finish plays or passes to finish plays, as opposed to it being equal opportunity.”
Harris actually pushed back a bit recently at the notion of him being a quieter guy, when asked if Wilson’s the more vocal one and he more leads by example. Harris feels like he is a talkative player as a point guard, especially on the defensive end of the floor. But Self would still like to see Harris get out of his comfort zone more, and regardless, redshirt senior guard Kevin McCullar Jr. sees value in having multiple types of leaders.
In their own ways, Wilson and Harris are attempting to bring everyone else along. They’re explaining how hard it was to accomplish what last season’s team did. They’re trying to build the chemistry, on and off the court, that helped the 2021-22 team succeed.
On top of what Harris and Wilson can take from winning a national championship, the two learned from teammates who’ve since gone on to play professional basketball. Harris mentioned Ochai Agbaji, Christian Braun, David McCormack, Devon Dotson and Marcus Garrett. Wilson mentioned Agbaji, Dotson, McCormack, Mitch Lightfoot and Udoka Azubuike.
“When you’re thinking, ‘Oh, this is just a practice.’ Or, ‘This is just a shoot-around.’ It’s not,” said Wilson, who’s on the preseason watch list for the 2023 Julius Erving Award, which is given each year to the top small forward in Division I. “Every time you get an opportunity to get on the court you have to maximize it, because you really never know when that last moment is, when that last game is. Once you get to March, it’s prime-time basketball and you have no time to slack.”
McCullar knew it was Harris’ and Wilson’s team before he even transferred from Texas Tech to Kansas during the offseason. McCullar’s seen that exemplified since he joined the Jayhawks. And in Self’s estimation, by Christmas, the newcomer will be comfortable enough to be the vocal leader that’ll turn that leadership duo into a trio.
McCullar has already felt the younger players are listening to him and buying into what he’s saying because of his experience in the Big 12. McCullar credits Harris and Wilson for the environment they created, that’s made it easier for that to happen than it might have been otherwise. And Self considers all three of them terrific leaders.
“Right now, I’m just bringing energy every day,” McCullar said. “That’s one thing that I know I could control, is my energy and my effort every day. If I’m out there playing hard and laughing and having a good time, being personable, then I know everybody else is going to enjoy it and come to work every day.”
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Dajuan Harris Jr., Jalen Wilson know they must lead Kansas basketball
