With the season coming to a close, we decided to begin a series where we give letter grades to each Kansas player for their performance in 2022-23.
The first player being graded is the Jayhawks’ leader, Dajuan Harris. After nearly costing Kansas the national championship last year, he has made tremendous strides in several aspects of the game.
Harris was arguably the team’s most important player with his combination of defense, playmaking, and inside scoring. Although he is not the most aggressive scorer, his jumper looks much more fluid than last season. He has also become a very reliable scorer at the rim.
Kansas played vastly better when Harris put the ball in the net. Until the loss vs. Arkansas, the team was 45-0 in his KU career when he scored double-digits in the points department.
These were his statistics per game in the 2022-23 season:
- 8.9 points
- 6.2 assists
- 2.5 rebounds
- 2.2 steals
- 2.0 turnovers
- 47.1% FG
- 40.5% 3PT
- 0.8 3PM
- 59.6% FT
- 1.3 FTA
It was a terrific season for the junior guard, as he won Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. He is starting to come into his own and become one of the premier Kansas guards in recent history. Whether it is quarterbacking the offense, getting in passing lanes, or throwing lobs, Harris is elite at practically everything a pure point should do. Now that he has the keys to the team in 2023-24 when several essential contributors leave, he can enhance his game even more.
Dajuan Harris is a magician in transition pic.twitter.com/kdfL8jstWd
— Sully Engels (@sullyengels) March 18, 2023
He ended the season on a positive note, but that does not take away from his inconsistency this year. He scored less than five points in seven games, looking lost in the offense at times. His free throw percentage inexplicably dipped below sixty percent after shooting 79.4% for the first two seasons of his collegiate career.
Harris did not show up every game this season and often was careless with turnovers. However, the impact he had on the team can not be understated. If he did not play well, neither was the rest of Kansas. He made the jump he needed to make after Kansas lost Remy Martin last year.