Darren Harris is better than you think
Amidst a historic freshman class for Duke, one name consistently falls through the cracks, despite being one of the most pro-ready prospects among his peers: Darren Harris.
Earlier this month, I quickly detailed each of the six members of Duke’s historic recruiting class, following the commitment of Khaman Maluach. The order in which each of these incredibly talented prospects was detailed followed the order they appear on 247Sports’ class of 2024 rankings, but the final name listed is perhaps one of the biggest diamonds in the rough of the entire 2025 draft class.
Darren Harris is a 6’6” sharpshooting guard/wing for Paul VI Catholic, the second-ranked team in all of high school basketball, and a program that has produced Division-I basketball players year after year, including former Blue Devil Trevor Keels and current Terrapin DeShawn Harris-Smith.
Having been the understudy to these heralded prospects for years, Harris has turned himself into a top-50 prospect in his own right, and one that top programs like Duke were quick to send offers to.
“When it was announced that he (Jon Scheyer) was going to take over for Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski) he called my parents right away … Duke was always a dream school of mine … When Duke prioritizes you and coach Scheyer prioritizes you it’s kind of hard to pass up on that.”
Harris was just a rising sophomore when Scheyer was hired in the Summer of 2021, but it’s clear that the Blue Devils’ new coach at the time saw something in Harris. Soon after, Harris started receiving offers from a plethora of other high-major schools: Miami (FL), Ohio State and Maryland to name a few.
On film, it isn’t hard to see why Harris was quickly drawing so much attention. He could always shoot the ball, but while still developing on the ball, scoring just looked natural to him. As Paul VI’s roster has changed over the years, Harris has played just about every role you could imagine, and has excelled at all of them.
Currently, as the Panthers head into the Chipotle Nationals high school basketball tournament, for what will be part of Harris’ last stretch of games for his high school, Harris is now Paul VI’s leading scorer and a refined shot-creator at that.
Harris lists some of his biggest influences as Devin Booker, Klay Thompson and Grayson Allen. All of these players are, at their base, sharpshooters who fall in a variety of different spots on a chart that defines their role.
Allen is one of the league’s most valuable role players, shooting 47.8% from three; Thompson is a five-time All-Star who’s remained a historically great shooter throughout his career; and Devin Booker is one of the league’s best players, as a true scorer who can play both on and off the ball due to his outside shot and natural scoring capabilities.
“For Devin Booker, I’m growing into a shot creator, so I think watching him and the way he gets into his mid-range, floaters, step-backs, fade-aways … incorporating it into my own game has been fun to do and I think we saw a lot (of it) this year.”
Harris’ growth as a shot creator has been the story of the season. From his junior to senior season, he jumped from 11.9 points per game on 59.3% true shooting to 17.3 points per game on 64.9% true shooting.
Harris’ movement shooting has always been a huge strength of his, but this season, he’s taken a remarkable jump attacking closeouts, and using his off-ball movement to tire out defenders before hunting his shot.
While maintaining the outside shooting, Thompson and Allen’s value differs from Booker's, as most of their offense comes from their ability to draw attention off the ball and capitalize off defenses mistakenly leaving them open or playing them too close.
They run around the court, sprinting off screens, causing defensive movement and making sure the majority of their opponents on the court have at least one eye on them. This creates openings for ball handlers, screeners and other cutters to capitalize off their attention as a shooter.
“Klay Thompson was someone I used to watch a lot. I like the way he moves off the ball, how fast he cuts and how hard he defends. I think he’s a really high IQ player to take away from.
It’s evident where Harris takes from Thompson. There’s rarely a stagnant offensive possession for Paul VI off Harris’ movement alone. Harris is constantly surveying for spaces and creases he can move to to cause defensive collapses.
The mechanics of Harris’ shot are picture-esque. Whether he’s coming off movement or stationary, he’s excellent at getting his feet squared to the basket quickly and in rhythm with the rest of his shot. His base is almost exactly shoulder-width, and he’s always on balance, landing in the same spot he lifted off from more often than not.
As he comes up to his set point, which sits slightly above and in front of his head, he quickly snaps his elbow and wrist, holding his follow-through until he sees the result of his shot. It’s not fully one-motion like Stephen Curry, but the shot is quick and has no hitches or pauses.
Paul VI loves running Harris off-screen, throwing pin-downs at him, elevator and exit screens as well as using him as a screener in pick and pop or as a ghost in horns sets.
One thing we’ve touched on but haven’t gone in-depth on is Harris’ scalability. All scalability means is someone’s or something’s ability to change in size or shape — or in this case, role — and maintain effectiveness.
Harris’ growth has always been founded on his scalability. Always an excellent shooter, he’s been able to build his game around his outlier skill and allow himself to become an offensive focal point because of it. However, if asked to scale back down, he can do just that.
Duke is bringing in an incredible recruiting class, featuring one of the best collections of prospects (on paper) of all time. In the storied history of Blue Devils basketball, the crowned gem of this class, Cooper Flagg, grades out as their highest-rated prospect in school history. Their newest addition, Maluach, also ranks top-20 in program history.
On top of that, barring transfers, Duke could be looking to bring back talent from the current roster. Sophomore guard, Tyrese Proctor as well as former top-25 recruits in the class of 2023, Caleb Foster and Sean Stewart, are likely to come back to hopefully boost their stock.
With all this talent, having players that scale well will be important for success. There are a ton of mouths to feed, and those who can find their share within the offense, rather than forcing offense and minimizing the impact of their teammates will have an immense impact.
Harris’ shooting and ability to create with only a few dribbles make him a prime candidate to excel and exceed expectations on a team with as much talent as Duke.
Another area that will determine if Harris consistently sees the court early on is defense, and Harris recognizes that.
“At the end of the day, to play for coach Scheyer you have to be a great defender too. (You have to) pick up stuff quickly, like the sets and plays, the defensive scheme … I think I’m ahead of the curve in terms of picking up schemes and defensive principles.”
Harris has rarely been the guy coaches will put on the opposing team’s best offensive player, but he’s rarely targeted as well. When he is shot against, however, he grades out pretty well only allowing 0.66 points per shot as the primary defender (via Synergy Sports).
Harris’ activity and effort is clear. He’s rarely out of stance on the ball, playing with his arms out and sliding his feet to the best of his ability. Harris slides well, but oftentimes it feels like he’s conceding angles too easily, staying attached but allowing offensive players to get to where they want. This is a result of playing with open hips and trying to run with a defender rather than staying in front. It’s a fixable issue and with Harris’ above-average lateral quickness, he should be able to fix it.
However, he’s excellent at contesting shots and his hands are relatively active and disciplined (1.2 steals to 1.1 personal fouls per game).
Harris’ off-ball defense is an aspect of his game he recognizes could stand to improve. While active on the ball, Harris is aware that he has occasional lapses off it, rotating too far off his man or not quick enough back to him.
Overall, Harris is neutral to slightly positive on defense with plenty of room to grow. Right now, some small technical concerns keep him from being as strong as he can be containing ball handlers and having an impact off the ball, but overall, he does enough, and that’s about all you have to do in the NBA if you’re not relied on to protect the rim.
Players just 28 of 103 shots against him this season.
So, who does Darren Harris project to be at Duke and levels beyond that?
Shooting gets him in the door, and at 6’6” with an athletic frame, it will be more than enough to secure playing time early in his Duke tenure. Shooting in basketball is a key to so many doors on offense, and determines the decisions and coverages teams choose to execute defensively.
Harris being an elite marksman from deep, as well as being able to create his offense in the mid-range will get him on the floor, and will allow him to have an impact and help his teammates even if he’s not getting the ball or if shots aren’t falling.
On top of that, Harris’ development as a shot creator gives him an excellent ceiling for someone ranked barely inside the top 50 on most recruiting websites. He’s not an elite athlete nor is he a primary ball handler, but his skill set scales well and is trackable at the NBA level.
Take Harris’ listed inspirations from earlier: Booker, Thompson and Allen. None of those players have elite athletic profiles and for all, or the majority of their careers haven’t been primary ball handlers. However, they know when and how to attack with concise scoring moves, have extremely reliable off-ball shots and can find creases in the defense off the ball.
Harris projects to do all of those things incredibly well, no matter what court he’s on or at what level. Those things translate and they scale, and because of that Harris is better than the projections say and probably better than you think he is.