By BRIAN FITZSIMMONS
SPECIAL TO ZAGSBLOG
NEW YORK – Clearly Andrew Harrison, a five-star point guard who is one of six All-Americans committed to Kentucky, has no shortage of confidence.
The Travis (Texas) High School point guard believes in his abilities on the basketball court so much, he even told USA Today this week he’d get the best of Michael Jordan in a game of one-on-one by an 11-7 margin.
It was in good fun for a gifted teenager to playfully think about competing against the game’s greatest player in his prime, but would Harrison bring up his prediction if he actually got to meet His Airness before or after Saturday’s Jordan Brand Classic at the Barclays Center?
“No, definitely not,” Harrison said with a hearty laugh. “I’ve gotten a lot of grief for that already. Hey, I knew I had it coming, though.”
Because he is an NBA owner, Jordan is technically not permitted to meet the high school players in his own game, so the face-to-face won’t happen anyway.
Harrison may or may not have held his own against Jordan at his best; the world will never know.
However, it is probably good for Kentucky coach John Calipari and the Kentucky fans that Harrison is so confident.
After all, he will be running the point next year in Lexington, deciding how the ball is allocated and dispersed among a group of star players that will include holdovers Alex Poythress, Willie Cauley-Stein and Kyle Wiltjer, and newcomers Aaron Harrison (his twin brother), Julius Randle, Marcus Lee, James Young and Dakari Johnson.
On Saturday, Harrison will matchup gainst Florida commit Kasey Hill (Montverde Academy, Fla.) and fellow floor general Nigel Williams-Goss (Findlay Prep, Nev.), who is signed with Washington.
“Me, as a man, I believe nobody can beat me,” Harrison said during the prestigious event’s media day at Basketball City on Thursday afternoon.
With 21 other All-Americans are set to suit up for the East vs. West showdown at 8 p.m., the East’s Harrison will be surrounded by plenty of future NBA prospects. It’ll be entertaining to decipher who is the gala’s best dunker, best shooter, best passer; the list goes on and on.
As for point guards, there’s no doubt which star boasts the most potent crossover.
“Oh, definitely me,” Harrison said. “I have the best crossover by far.”
The 6-foot-5, 210-pound Harrison, who averaged 14.1 points, 5.1 assists and 6.1 rebounds during his senior year, just hopes his talents will help the Wildcats capture the program’s second national title in three years.
“God willing, we’ll be the best in the country,” he said of his future team, which is comprised of five other top 20 recruits and possibly Andrew Wiggins (Huntington Prep, W. Va.), the No. 1 prospect in the Class of 2013.
“Everybody knows what we each can do, so I think we’re past that stage,” Harrison said. “I think they’ll like playing with me because I give up the ball and make sure everybody gets involved. Aaron and I, we committed first, so it means the other guys wouldn’t mind playing with us – and we won’t mind playing with them.”
Photo: ESPN.com
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