Former Badger star comes home

New Jersey Net's Devin Harris, by A. David Dahmer

"It feels good to be back," said former University of Wisconsin basketball star Devin Harris. "There's no place like Madison. It will always have a special place in my heart."
The 25-year-old New Jersey Nets point guard was back on his old stomping grounds, signing autographs at Copps on Madison's west side July 13. Harris took a little time out of his session to talk with The Madison Times.
"I got up to Coach [Bo] Ryan's event yesterday and got to see a lot of the old players, and it was great talking with them," said Harris, who has kept in contact with old teammates and coaches through e-mail but rarely gets a chance to see them as much anymore. "We got to catch up and see what everybody was doing, where they are playing, wives, kids, and all that other good stuff."
Harris attended the University of Wisconsin and gained national attention for his play during the 2003-2004 season when he was named Big Ten Player of the Year, won the Silver Basketball award, and was named a Second Team All-American. Having established himself as one of the top players in the nation, Harris decided to leave the Badgers a year early to play in the NBA where he was a top-five draft pick in 2004.
Harris was recently a key player on a Dallas Mavericks team that made it all the way to the NBA Finals before falling to Dwayne Wade, Shaquille O'Neal, and the Miami Heat in six games. In February, he was traded to the New Jersey Nets. The Nets lost the popular veteran Jason Kidd in the deal and also recently lost Richard Jefferson in a deal with the Milwaukee Bucks.
There's an obvious youth movement going on with the Nets, but Harris is taking it all in stride. The Nets currently have eight players on the roster with two years of NBA experience or less.
"We got Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons, and I'm excited about that; but I was sorry to see Richard [Jefferson] go; he was a great guy and a great player," Harris said. "We are getting older; we have signed a few veterans. We won't be as young as we were last year. We're definitely looking to be competitive."
Harris's off-season has been a mix of relaxation and working out. "This has been my longest summer, because it's the first time I haven't made the playoffs," Harris said, adding that he is concentrating specifically on working on his form and shooting a higher percentage from the field. "I've been working on my pull-up [jumpers] off the dribble from 15 feet out to make sure that that is a knockdown, 100 percent of the time bucket," Harris said. "As always, I'm working on reading the floor and, really, just getting stronger, to keep my body healthy to make it through a full season."
While Harris is improving his game, he once again is helping Milwaukee-area youngsters improve their games with the second annual Devin Harris Basketball Camp. For Harris, it's a great opportunity to work with kids and to be a positive role model.
"Camp is good. We're excited about it," Harris said. "We have about 300 kids, and we're looking forward to working with them.  
The kids at his camp are learning a variety of things: playing to their strengths, defense, shooting, dribbling, passing, and all the fundamentals. Harris said he plans on bringing in some celebrity NBA basketball players to talk with the kids. Who will that be? "Harris smiled. "I don't want to spoil it for the kids," he said
In the meantime, as one of the NBA's rising young stars, Harris has a bright future ahead. His personal goals involve getting his assist numbers up -- perhaps even into the double digits -- though most of his goals are team-oriented.
"Obviously, we missed the playoffs for the first time in seven years, so our goal is to get the team back in there," Harris said, "and all of the accolades will come with that.
But doesn't "Devin Harris, NBA All-Star" have a great ring to it?
"The personal stuff will all come with winning," Harris said. "It's not something I dwell on. Obviously, everybody wants to be an all-star, but [our team] winning is the most important thing to me."