Moe Harkless and D’Angelo Harrison made quite an impression on Coach K during their first visit to Cameron Indoor Stadium.
“Those two kids, Harkless and Harrison are just outstanding basketball players,” Coach K said after No. 8 Duke held on to beat St. John’s 83-76 Saturday. “Harkless had a terrific stat-line against us.”
Yes, he did.
The 6-foot-8 rookie from Queens put up 30 points and 13 rebounds in the loss, while the 6-3 Harrison added 21 points, including a 3-pointer with 20.7 seconds left that cut Duke’s lead to 79-75.
“My teammates are doing a better job of finding me and getting me the ball, and I’m more comfortable now taking shots in big games along with D’Angelo,” Harkless said. “I’m just upset we lost.”
Harkless’s play of late has raised two key questions.
One, is he the Big East Rookie of the Year?
Andre Drummond of UConn was named Big East Preseason Rookie of the Year, but Harkless leads all Big East rookies in scoring (16 ppg) and ranks second in rebounding (8.6).
Drummond, by contrast, is averaging 9.7 points and 7.6 boards.
Harrison is the second leading-scorer among Big East frosh at 15.5 points per game.
Rutgers frosh Eli Carter, another candidate for postseason honors, is averaging 13.4 points, while Providence’s LaDontae Henton is averaging 12.7 points and 9.0 boards.
And two, will Harkless consider testing the NBA waters after his freshman season?
Sources close to Harkless insist he will remain in school, but his play of late certainly makes the question relevant. DraftExpress.com featured Harkless this week and he’s currently ranked No. 65 among their Top 100 prospects.
LAVIN OUT RECRUITING
St. John’s coach Steve Lavin was at South Kent Saturday to watch Brewster (N.H.) Academy rout South Kent, 106-82. He is pursuing 6-8 Brewster forward JaKarr Sampson. Providence signee Ricky Ledo had 33 points and 5 assists, according to FriarBasketball.net...Lavin heads to New Orleans Sunday to watch 2012 decommit Ricardo Gathers.
