Mississippi State guard Claudell Harris quickly embraces leadership role

Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans entered the offseason with a goal of improving the perimeter scoring and shooting in the backcourt. Jans and his staff did just that with the addition of several proven Power 5 transfers, including former Boston College transfer guard Claudell Harris.

Last season Harris averaged 13.7 points a game for Boston College while shooting 37% from 3 point territory. The Louisiana native began his college career at Charleston Southern, where he spent two seasons and averaged 10.3 and 17.4 points as a freshman and sophomore, respectively.

Harris began his new chapter at Mississippi State in June and has spent the previous weeks practicing with his new Bulldog teammates. Last week Harris met with local media to discuss his arrival to Starkville and his thoughts on the upcoming season among other topics:

Q: You and Michael Nwoko played against each other three times last year in the ACC. Is it a weird dynamic now to be teammates or not?
Harris: I wouldn’t say it is weird. I did pick on him a good bit when we first got here because we went 3-0 against Miami and I’m going to carry that on my belt the rest of my life (laughing). But I wouldn’t say it was weird. Once I got here and we talked, I actually looked back and watched the times he got in those games and saw the good things he did as a freshman and things he needs to work on. So I came in here trying to be a leader as a senior on this squad and build up my teammates.

Q: How hard has it been to establish that leadership role coming in a new place as a senior?
Harris: I wouldn’t say it was hard. Just coming in and communicating with the guys. They understand my role on the team and I understand my role on the team, to come in and lead and have guys around me that’s willing to follow leadership, as well. I feel like that’s half the battle when it comes to leadership. I wouldn’t say that has been hard at all.

Q: What is your role on the court?
Harris: I would say to play defense and that’s the first thing. I feel like that is everybody’s role to come in and guard and understand the defensive concepts. On the offensive side I’m there to space the floor. I have talented guys around me like Kanye (Clary), Hubb (Josh Hubbard), Riley (Kugel) and Cam (Matthews). The whole team has a different skills set and I’m there to spread the floor and knock down shots and be a three-level scorer.

Q: How competitive has it been in that backcourt?
Harris: It’s great. You come in with the perspective that iron sharpens iron. It’s a beautiful thing to experience. You come in every day and you can’t slack. You’re always guarding someone that is just as good or better than you. You got to come with the same mindset every day.

Q: Yourself, Riley Kugel and RJ Melendez have a lot of length in the backcourt. How does that favor into the versatility of this team?
Harris: We are very versatile and can play inside-out. We are very scary in transition and the way we play defense and get to the ball. We are rotating and flying around and those long arms are getting a lot of deflections, a bunch of transition layups. We’re running. Like Kanye (Clary) said, there’s a lot of conditioning because of the way we play and the length we have, we have the advantage on a lot of teams.

Q: So you feel like this team will get up and down the court a lot?
Harris: I do and I have high hopes that we’re going to be a really good transition offense.

Q: Cameron Matthews gets a lot of compliments about his motor and how hard he goes all the time. How’s it been for you to see that in practice?
Harris: Mook (Matthews) is a great person to look up to. Just how hard he plays and his energy just radiates to everyone on the court. I’m on Mook’s team and I see him dive after the ball and it makes me want to dive after it. Especially coming with that competitive spirit, everybody is trying to outwork everybody. So it’s great to see.

Q: Your teammate last year – Quintin Post – started his career at Mississippi State. When you entered the transfer portal did you talk to him any about Mississippi State?
Harris: I asked him how his time was at Mississippi State but he told me it wasn’t the same staff. Outside of basketball, he told me Starkville was a great place to be with nice people and good energy.

Q: How different is it for you at Mississippi State compared to Boston College?
Harris: Definitely is different, just the way we work is a lot different from other teams. I came in here at first not knowing what to expect. But as we kept going I saw the type of work you have to put in day-in and day-out. It’s just a rhythm that I’m in now.

Q: Your thoughts on freshman guard Dellquan Warren?
Harris: He’s a great guy. He works hard and he’s a sponge. He doesn’t talk back and he looks up and listens to learn something. He goes hard and he makes mistakes but goes hard. Coming in as a freshman and being confused, sometimes it is frustrating. But with Dellquan he just keeps on moving and he’s learning all the way.