Jalen Harris (born August 14, 1998) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

Winnipeg Sea Bears The Winnipeg Sea Bears are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, that competes in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). They play their home games at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg. History On November 9 ...

of the

Canadian Elite Basketball League The Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL; ) is the premier men's professional basketball league in Canada, as recognized by Canada Basketball. The CEBL was founded in 2017 and began play in 2019 with six teams all owned and operated by owner ...

(CEBL). He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs and the

Nevada Wolf Pack The Nevada Wolf Pack are the athletic teams that represent the University of Nevada, Reno. They are part of NCAA's Division I's Mountain West Conference. It was founded on October 24, 1896 with football as the Sagebrushers in Reno, Nevada. H ...

. Harris was suspended from the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

for the 2021–22 season due to a drug violation.

Early life

Harris was born in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, the son of Karlin Kennedy and Erion Harris, both of whom played basketball at SMU, and has two younger brothers and a sister. His mother gave birth to him at the age of 19 but returned to the floor at SMU for her junior season and graduated as the Mustangs' all-time leader in points, rebounds, blocks and field-goal percentage. Harris grew up in Duncanville and played basketball,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

. He gave up football after an injury in middle school, after which he trained with his father to become a high-level basketball player. His father formed the travel team Dallas Heroes around his son in middle school. He attended

Duncanville High School Duncanville High School is a secondary school located in Duncanville, Texas, Duncanville, Texas, United States, in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The school is a part of Duncanville Independent School District. The school includes grades 9 through 12 ...

and grew to as a sophomore. As a junior, he averaged 15 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists per game and was named the District 8-6A Offensive Player of the Year. He suffered a broken vertebrae during an AAU event, forcing him to miss half of his senior season. Nevertheless, Harris was again named District 8-6A Offensive Player of the Year as a senior. He averaged 23 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals per game as a senior and shot 55 percent from the field and 45 percent on three-point attempts. In a game against

Cedar Hill High School Cedar Hill High School (CHHS) is a comprehensive public high school located in the city of Cedar Hill, Texas (USA) in Dallas County and is classified as a 6A school by the UIL. It is a part of the Cedar Hill Independent School District locat ...

, Harris scored a career-high 44 points. He was rated as the 16th-best player and the ninth-best guard in Texas in his class by

Rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

. Harris spurned offers from

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

and

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

to sign with Louisiana Tech.

College career

Harris began his collegiate career at

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – Hig ...

. As a true freshman, he averaged 10.9 points and 3.1 rebounds per game and was named to the

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

All-Freshman team. As a sophomore, Harris led the Bulldogs in scoring with 15.3 points per game while also averaging 4.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game, shooting 44.4 percent from behind the arc. He decided to transfer after 11 games. In January 2018, he signed with

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

over offers from

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

and Stephen F. Austin. Harris chose the Wolf Pack after attending a game against

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It ...

after being impressed by coach

Eric Musselman Eric Musselman (born November 19, 1964) is an American college basketball coach who is currently the head coach at the University of Southern California. He is the former head coach at the University of Arkansas, University of Nevada, Reno, the ...

and welcoming fans and sat out the 2018–19 season as a redshirt, during which Nevada finished 29–5. After his redshirt season, coach Musselman left for

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

, and Harris entered the transfer portal again the day before the school hired

Steve Alford Stephen Todd Alford (born November 23, 1964) is an American men's college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach for the Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball, Nevada Wolf Pack of the Mountain West Conference (MWC). ...

. Despite receiving interest from Gonzaga and SMU, Harris decided to stay at Nevada. He missed his second game with his new team with a foot injury and struggled in a game against

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

, finishing 3-of-19 with nine points. During an eight-game stretch in January 2020, Harris averaged 27 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. On February 11, he was named Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week by the

U.S. Basketball Writers Association The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) was founded in 1956 with the urging of National Collegiate Athletic Association director Walter Byers to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball. Scholarships The US ...

after scoring a career-high 38 points against

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

and 32 points against

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system. SDSU is ...

. He had 29 points, a career-high 14 rebounds, five assists and two steals in an 82–79 overtime win against

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. ...

on February 12, becoming the 11th Nevada player to tally at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a game. Harris is the first Nevada player since

Nick Fazekas Nicholas Ryan Fazekas (born June 17, 1985) is an American-born Japanese former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball, Nevada Wolf Pack. Early career Fazekas attended Ralston Valley ...

in 2006 to have four or more 30-point games in a season. At the conclusion of the regular season, Harris was named to the First Team All-

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

and conference newcomer of the year. He averaged 21.7 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Following the season, Harris declared for the

2020 NBA draft The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 25, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecticut, wi ...

Professional career

Toronto Raptors (2020–2021)

On November 18, 2020, Harris was drafted in the second round, 59th overall, in the

by the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

. On January 29, 2021, Harris was assigned to the

Raptors 905 The Raptors 905 are a Canadian professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Mississauga, and are affiliated with the Toronto Raptors. Raptors 905 began play in the 2015–16 season and play their home games at Paramount Fine Foods ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

. On May 14, Harris scored a career-high 31 points against the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

in his hometown of Dallas. On July 1, Harris was dismissed and suspended from the NBA for violating terms of the NBA/NBPA (

National Basketball Players Association The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) is the labor union that represents National Basketball Association (NBA) players. It was founded in 1954, making it the oldest trade union of the four major professional sports leagues in the U ...

) anti-drug program. Harris was banned for the 2021–22 season.

Vanoli Cremona (2021–2022)

Harris signed with

Vanoli Cremona Guerino Vanoli Basket, also known as Vanoli Cremona, is a professional basketball team of the city of Cremona. The team played in the Lega Basket Serie A, LBA, the top Italian basketball league, for 12 years until 2021. From 1999 to 2011 the soci ...

of the

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club (sport), club basketball list of basketball leagues, league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball ...

on August 14, 2021.

Scarborough Shooting Stars (2022)

On May 24, 2022, Harris signed with the

Scarborough Shooting Stars The Scarborough Shooting Stars are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They compete in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) and play their home games at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre in the eastern ...

of the

(CEBL). In his first game with Scarborough, Harris recorded 18 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, shooting 40 percent from the field (6-of-15), in an 80–70 loss against the

Montreal Alliance The Montreal Alliance () are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada founded in 2021. They compete in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) and play their home games at the Verdun Auditorium. The Montreal A ...

Westchester Knicks (2022–2023)

On September 25, 2022, Harris secured a contract with the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

of the NBA, officially ending his season-long ban in the process, but was waived at the end of training camp. On October 24, 2022, Harris joined the Knicks'

G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

affiliate

Westchester Knicks The Westchester Knicks are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in White Plains, New York, and are affiliated with the New York Knicks. The Knicks play their home games at Westchester County Center in White Plains, N ...

' training camp roster.

Return to Scarborough (2023)

On April 17, 2023, Harris re-signed with the

. However, he was waived on July 19.

Windy City Bulls (2023–2024)

On November 2, 2023, Harris joined the

Windy City Bulls The Windy City Bulls are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, and are affiliated with the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls play their home games at Now Arena, from Chicago. It became the thirte ...

where he averaged 12.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists en 23.7 minutes per game.

Leones de Ponce (2024)

On April 3, 2024, Harris signed with the Leones de Ponce of the

Baloncesto Superior Nacional The Baloncesto Superior Nacional, abbreviated as BSN, is the first-tier-level professional men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1929 and is organized by the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation. T ...

Saskatchewan Rattlers (2024)

On May 9, 2024, Harris signed with the

Saskatchewan Rattlers The Saskatchewan Rattlers are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The Rattlers compete in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL), playing their home games at the SaskTel Centre. The Rattlers hosted the ...

of the

China (2024–present)

Harris joined the Jiangxi Ganchi of the National Basketball League for 2024 season, he averaged 27.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists per game. On December 2, 2024, Harris signed with the

Nanjing Monkey Kings The Nanjing Monkey Kings () are a Chinese professional basketball team based in Nanjing, Jiangsu, which plays in the Southern Division of the Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CB ...

of the

Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier men's professional basketball league in China. The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, 13 , , 2 , , 13.2 , , .500 , , .472 , , .778 , , 1.4 , , 1.3 , , .6 , , .0 , , 7.4 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 13, , 2 , , 13.2 , , .500 , , .472 , , .778 , , 1.4 , , 1.3 , , .6 , , .0 , , 7.4

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;",

, 27 , , 2 , , 22.9 , , .447 , , .319 , , .883 , , 3.1 , , 1.6 , , .8 , , .3 , , 10.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

, 11 , , 11 , , 25.1 , , .478 , , .444 , , .830 , , 4.4 , , 2.4 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , 15.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:center;" colspan="11",

Redshirt , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 30 , , 30 , , 33.0 , , .446 , , .362 , , .823 , , 6.5 , , 3.9 , , 1.1 , , .1 , , 21.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 68 , , 43 , , 27.7 , , .451 , , .359 , , .838 , , 4.8 , , 2.7 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , 16.4

References

External links

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs bio

Nevada Wolf Pack bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Jalen 1998 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen American expatriate basketball people in Canada American expatriate basketball people in China American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players Basketball players from Dallas Doping cases in basketball Duncanville High School alumni Jiangxi Ganchi players Leones de Ponce basketball players Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball players Nanjing Monkey Kings players NBA players banned for drug offenses Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball players Point guards Raptors 905 players Saskatchewan Rattlers players Scarborough Shooting Stars players Shooting guards Toronto Raptors draft picks Toronto Raptors players Vanoli Cremona players Westchester Knicks players Windy City Bulls players Winnipeg Sea Bears players