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Jerome Harris Jr.
Jerome Harris of Collins High School (class of '09) is a player you will be hearing a lot about soon, if not already. Along with PREPSPOTLIGHT   we will help chronicle the senior season of this exciting and refreshingly mature young adult.
UPDATED 7-13-08
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Below are articles about Jerome written by Prepspotlights Michael Johnson. We are providing video footage and still photos for Mr. Johnson's exclusive documentary on Jerome. Please visit Prep Spotlight for more info.  

Prep Spotlight
The Leading Scouting Service In The Midwest
Hoosiers targeting 2009 standout Jerome Harris
By Michael Johnson | July 12, 2008
  Chicago has been position to have great quality guards in the past 10 years. Great guards like Derrick Rose, Sherron Collins, Iman Shumpert, Shannon Brown Dee Brown, Luther Head and many more has past through to make house hold names for themselves.
However, among that great talent, theres one that stands out and may be in the form of 2009 standout and IU target, Jerome Harris. Just last year Harris has seen his stock rise from a unkown to one of the most sought after player in the country. Harris has the eye of just about every high major program and currently holds offers from Central Michigan , St Johns, Ohio State, Rutgers, UAB, Arizona, Florida St and IU.

  What is it about Harris's game that makes him so highly sought after? We went to Jeromes trainer Ben Bradley for the lowdown “He’s one of the best guards in the class of 2009. He is extremely smooth and has improved year to year. This is one of the elite players in his class,” Bradley said. “He’s at a high school that’s going to showcase his talents all year long and he’s going to be front and center on the national scene.”  

  Bradley also noted that several schools were on hand to watch Harris work out as it is the fall open evaluation period. One of the coaches reportedly on hand was Indiana assistant Rob Senderoff. Harris's recruitment will certainly be one to watch over the next year as the Hoosiers try to lock up yet another five-star recruit



by: MICHAEL JOHNSON; Prep Spotlight
  There is a celebrity feel about Jerome Harris Jr. when he walks through the breezeways at Chicago Collins.
Fellow students, regardless of age or ethnicity, know who he is. Harris often is compared to former Peoria Star Shaun Livingston.
The treatment is nothing new for Harris. Fader Films has been in contact with Jerome and his father ( Jerome Sr.) on filming a documentry on Jerome for the rest of his high school career and hopefully some college years. We will be notified on specific dates on filming according to Jerome Sr.

  Jerome has been in contact with coaches from all across the country, during this year of AAU spring. No doubt who wouldnt want this kid who posses as one of the top players in the Midwest. Jerome is a special type of player, his upside and potential reminds me of former Simeon Star Derrick Rose.
  Harris, 17, handles the requests for his attention, and most things in his life, with the maturity and grace of someone much older. He stays humble and that’s kind of rare for someone in the spotlight at his age.

''Jerome is terrific to coach,'' Team Detroit’s Mike Kostner said. 'All he wants to do is play, win, get better and make his teammates better. He's always smiling. He's a `Yes sir, no sir' kind of guy. There's nothing negative you can say about the kid, on or off the court. He's a gentle kid.''
Harris, who said the perks of being a basketball star come along with ''positive things like making friends quick,'' acclimated himself to his new classmates, no matter their ages.

  He brings leadership and tremendous amount of energy to the court along with his talent. That has a lot to do with the likes of being taught lessons by better players around him. “ I learn in so many ways from people that’s better than me, and try to bring that to the court “ says Jerome. Just back in 2006 Jerome cousin Kansas prodigy Sherron Collins entered the scene on the same type of route and emerged. Harris on the other hand is taller, wiser, and has more of a better feel for the game than Sherron, and could possibly be more of a better point guard than Collins.

   As warm as Harris appears to his friends and classmates, he possesses a strong drive to be the best.
One basketball ranking rated him the second-best player in his class. Kostner said Harris was upset with that, and thought he should be first. It is not a matter of ego, however. Harris aspires to be the best in everything he does.

  ''It doesn't matter if it's a drill in practice or a game, he's out there to win it,'' Kostner said. ``That drives him. I think that's what drives him internally too. He's worried about the future.'' He knows that he have to do good, and feels that he is the perfect fit into someones college program. He knows the game he studies the game, but yet still learning the motives of being great.” I think that I am a good basketball player, in somewhat of a way, I train, listen, practice and teach all at the same time”. “ My dad and my H.S coach (Mike Clark) right now is the best to explain for me they help every day while I try to master at my position and hopefully enter the college of my choice”.
During a televised game against Atlanta Celtics announcers compared Jerome to Steve Nash, because of the assists he totaled at the end of the first quarter.''I was surprised,'' Harris said. ``He's one of the best players in the NBA. They made that comparison. They've seen him play in high school. I was happy. Then again, I just wanted to keep working.''

  Harris's collegiate plans are still undecided, but most of the nation's top programs expressed an interest. Harris receives nearly 14 letters a week from various universities, with father, Jerome Sr., typically filtering through them. Its no doubt that Harris is the top Junior in the state of Illinois its some that even rates him top 5 nationally.

   ''A lot of the point guards, they often times will just pass the ball and make something out of nonthing,'' Kostner said. ``Every night, he goes out on the court with a different attitude and that’s to win especially when the game ha a big name player that Jerome feels he better than”. “ to me he’s the best in the country and he has proven that many times”.

   Harris knows his game might have to evolve because coaches will expect talent like that to immediate ly come in and take over the team.” I have to get faster and be more consistant on my game even if I want to enter the pros, I definitley have to get stronger because the pro guards are built like rocks”.

   ''I think I have great point guard skills,'' he said. ``It's not rare, but I think I can be one of the ones to succeed. Although Harris is not banking on a future in the NBA, he does consider it a possibility.
   ''I think about it a lot,'' he said. 'I think if it did happen, that's a good life. I just have to work hard. I can never wake up one day and be like, `I'm this' or `I'm that.'
   ``No matter where I'll be, even if get to the NBA, I'll always keep working. You can always get better.''