It is Valentine’s Day and there has been plenty to love about UVa so far in the ACC. The Virginia men’s basketball team is 11-1 in conference play after all with nine wins coming by double digits, which matches the school record.
That may have something to do with why some fans love the Hoos, but it seems that quite a few Hoos have loved Joe Harris far longer than 2014. In fact, one student held up a sign at the home game with Maryland on Monday that said “Joe pass me the rock” with a diamond ring drawn on the poster.
“Yeah I saw that,” Harris said with a laugh. “It was a creative sign. It looked good.”
Harris always seems to chuckle at any of the attention he gets, one reason teammates push it on him around Grounds as much as possible. He doesn’t even consider himself the big man on campus really even though he may be the most recognizable Virginia athlete at UVa right now. Still, he’s not trying to draw attention to himself or anything like that.
“I don’t hate attention, but I wouldn’t say that I don’t embrace it or like it a whole lot,” Harris said.
If fans do not want to give Harris added attention these days, they still should carve out a little extra appreciation for the senior. As I wrote in a Double Bonus article a few weeks back “make sure you enjoy the next several weeks watching Joe Harris in a Virginia uniform” because his career is winding down and he has contributed in a major way to the Hoo revival everyone is witnessing over the last three years. He’s also moved into 14th place on the career scoring list (tied with Travis Watson) with 1,546 points and second on the career 3-pointers list (tied with Harold Deane) with 237.
So yeah, what’s not to love?
Agree – Hoo fans should keep in mind the contributions of Joe and Akil as their 4th year winds down. JPJ should really be rocking for the 3-game home stand next week!
Four years in college sure goes faster when you enjoy watching a player, as opposed to my four years in C’ville as an aimless student (that seemed to last a decade). I’m stoked that I was in JPJ in Nov. 2010, when UVa played W&M in Joe and Akil’s first college game, and I am going to see them in Greensboro in the ACC tournament, Those two have certainly provided us with some memorable thrills, and put us back on the college b’ball map.