SE: Grad Transfer Angela Harris Hits Ground Running with K-State WBB
Oct 29, 2019 | Women's Basketball, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
Angela Harris graduated from Houston in three years, so she's no stranger to accelerated timelines. It should come as no surprise how quickly the graduate transfer point guard has gelled with the K-State women's basketball team.
"I feel like she's been here for four years," junior Rachel Ranke said of her new teammate, who arrived in Manhattan in August. "She fits in really well."
Harris also fit a few areas of need for K-State.
To start, the Wildcats lost All-Big 12 point guard Kayla Goth last season to graduation. While Goth accounted for 53 percent of the team's assists and 19 percent of its points last year, her leadership was just as valuable.
Harris, with 77 career starts at Houston, should help fill part of that void. To accelerate this process, Harris said she immediately focused on developing a rapport with her teammates after she got to Manhattan.
"It's kind of hard because you're coming in and you only have one year to make an impact on this team," she said. "I think I've done a good job of getting to know every single player, knowing what they like, where they like to have the ball and what puts them in a good position to be a good basketball player on this team. I think I've meshed well with them."
As a benefactor of those passes, Ranke agreed.
"She is really good at finding the open player. She's a true point guard," Ranke said, as K-State hosts Washburn for an exhibition on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. "She's always aware of who's around her and what she can use, which has been really good for us."
Production-wise, Harris said she wants to help create as much offense as possible. In three seasons at Houston, she provided 1,083 points and 281 assists.
Lately, she said she's focused more on her shooting. Last season, her 3-point percentage dipped to 29.6, after she knocked down 35.4 percent in 2017-18. Her sophomore season also included making 85 threes, which, for reference, would have led K-State last season and tied for ninth most in a single season in program history.
"She shoots the three very well," K-State head coach Jeff Mittie said, who added that Harris "really gets after it one-on-one" on defense.
Harris, who said she takes pride in being "hard-nosed and tough" on both ends of the floor, grabbed 280 rebounds and snagged 216 steals at Houston.
"I'm going to try to get up in the other team's point guard, if I can, just being a hard-nosed player," she said. "I guess you could call it blue collar and just being a hard worker."
Harris said she developed those characteristics back at Cy-Fair High School, located in a suburb of Houston. More specifically, she learned them from her head coach, Ann Roubique, who has more than 600 career wins and has coached three future WNBA No. 1 draft picks — Lindsey Harding, Nneka Ogwumike and Chiney Ogwumike.
"She also had a few other McDonald's All-Americans, like Cassie Peoples," Harris said. "So, coming into that program and learning from her and the way they do things, it taught me you can't take plays off. You have to go hard in practice."
If all goes as planned, Harris said she hopes her impact can help K-State maintain part of the reason she chose to transfer to the program: NCAA Tournaments. The Wildcats have reached the NCAA Tournament in three of the last four years, including last year when they won seven of their last eight games of the regular season.
"It was very important," Harris said of K-State's postseason appearances. "I was just looking for a place that I knew had a good shot. I found that here."
Asked what she's seen in practice to reaffirm that belief and Harris first responded with another Wildcat who will be new to the floor this season: Ayoka Lee, a 6-foot-5 redshirt freshman who's more commonly referred to as "Yokie."
"I've seen a lot of posts in my day and Yokie, I think, by the end of her career is definitely a 20-and-10 player," Harris said. "This year, I think she can average 10 to 15 with Peyton (Williams) as her running mate. Then, of course you have Chrissy (Carr) and Rachel who can shoot it on the outside. It's just a lot of talent. It's deep. It's real deep."
Angela Harris graduated from Houston in three years, so she's no stranger to accelerated timelines. It should come as no surprise how quickly the graduate transfer point guard has gelled with the K-State women's basketball team.
"I feel like she's been here for four years," junior Rachel Ranke said of her new teammate, who arrived in Manhattan in August. "She fits in really well."
Harris also fit a few areas of need for K-State.
To start, the Wildcats lost All-Big 12 point guard Kayla Goth last season to graduation. While Goth accounted for 53 percent of the team's assists and 19 percent of its points last year, her leadership was just as valuable.
Harris, with 77 career starts at Houston, should help fill part of that void. To accelerate this process, Harris said she immediately focused on developing a rapport with her teammates after she got to Manhattan.
"It's kind of hard because you're coming in and you only have one year to make an impact on this team," she said. "I think I've done a good job of getting to know every single player, knowing what they like, where they like to have the ball and what puts them in a good position to be a good basketball player on this team. I think I've meshed well with them."
As a benefactor of those passes, Ranke agreed.
"She is really good at finding the open player. She's a true point guard," Ranke said, as K-State hosts Washburn for an exhibition on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. "She's always aware of who's around her and what she can use, which has been really good for us."
Production-wise, Harris said she wants to help create as much offense as possible. In three seasons at Houston, she provided 1,083 points and 281 assists.
Lately, she said she's focused more on her shooting. Last season, her 3-point percentage dipped to 29.6, after she knocked down 35.4 percent in 2017-18. Her sophomore season also included making 85 threes, which, for reference, would have led K-State last season and tied for ninth most in a single season in program history.
"She shoots the three very well," K-State head coach Jeff Mittie said, who added that Harris "really gets after it one-on-one" on defense.
Harris, who said she takes pride in being "hard-nosed and tough" on both ends of the floor, grabbed 280 rebounds and snagged 216 steals at Houston.
"I'm going to try to get up in the other team's point guard, if I can, just being a hard-nosed player," she said. "I guess you could call it blue collar and just being a hard worker."
Harris said she developed those characteristics back at Cy-Fair High School, located in a suburb of Houston. More specifically, she learned them from her head coach, Ann Roubique, who has more than 600 career wins and has coached three future WNBA No. 1 draft picks — Lindsey Harding, Nneka Ogwumike and Chiney Ogwumike.
"She also had a few other McDonald's All-Americans, like Cassie Peoples," Harris said. "So, coming into that program and learning from her and the way they do things, it taught me you can't take plays off. You have to go hard in practice."
If all goes as planned, Harris said she hopes her impact can help K-State maintain part of the reason she chose to transfer to the program: NCAA Tournaments. The Wildcats have reached the NCAA Tournament in three of the last four years, including last year when they won seven of their last eight games of the regular season.
"It was very important," Harris said of K-State's postseason appearances. "I was just looking for a place that I knew had a good shot. I found that here."
Asked what she's seen in practice to reaffirm that belief and Harris first responded with another Wildcat who will be new to the floor this season: Ayoka Lee, a 6-foot-5 redshirt freshman who's more commonly referred to as "Yokie."
"I've seen a lot of posts in my day and Yokie, I think, by the end of her career is definitely a 20-and-10 player," Harris said. "This year, I think she can average 10 to 15 with Peyton (Williams) as her running mate. Then, of course you have Chrissy (Carr) and Rachel who can shoot it on the outside. It's just a lot of talent. It's deep. It's real deep."
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