Providence redshirt junior Tyler Harris will receive his bachelor’s degree in Sociology on May 17th at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center and that will be the final time Harris’ name is called over the PA system at the Dunk. The academic senior will take his degree and move on from Providence, the school announced Tuesday. Harris has one final year of eligibility at his disposal. It isn’t clear at this time if Harris intends to use that eligibility or if he is leaving Providence to explore professional opportunities. It sounds like Harris will explore transfer opportunities and if the right one isn’t available he will head overseas.
Harris came from NC State where he committed out of high school. Harris famously attended Providence’s Late Night Madness along with fellow Providence recruiting targets Michael Chandler (currently of Oregon) and Ryan Boatright (UConn). Those were during the dark days of Keno Davis and all 3 of those players opted to take their talents elsewhere. Harris ultimately opted to leave NC State after his freshman season and transferred to Providence in the June of 2012. After sitting the entire 2012-13 season, per NCAA transfer rules, Harris came in and had an immediate impact for the 2013-14 Providence team that won the school’s second ever Big East Tournament championship and first one since 1994. Harris averaged 11.6 points/game that season and started all 35 games the Friars would play, including the school’s first NCAA Tournament game since 2004.
“I would like to wish Tyler all the best in his future endeavors,” Ed Cooley said. “Tyler helped us move our program forward over the last two years as we won the BIG EAST title (2014) and made consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances during his two seasons of competition.”
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Harris, along with fellow ACC transfer Carson Desrosiers (Wake Forest), Keno Davis holdover Bryce Cotton and Cooley’s initial recruit LaDontae Henton were all largely responsible for the program’s turnaround under Cooley during his first 4 years at Providence. Harris was moved to a 6th man role this season to provide scoring and experience off the bench and he came on strong during the final weeks of the regular season after struggling to find his footing in the beginning of Big East play.
A report by the NY Post over the summer that had quotes from Tyler’s father, Torrel, indicated that Tyler was planning to leave after this season to enter the NBA Draft. That article rankled some fans at the time and, perhaps unfairly, Tyler bore the brunt of the criticism on message boards and on Twitter for his father’s statements. During his 3 years as a Friar Harris was always a good citizen and got along well with his teammates. He leaves Providence with a degree and a Big East Tournament championship ring. Not a bad 3 years in Friartown for Tyler Harris.
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2 responses to “Tyler Harris Won’t Return to Providence Next Season”
Best of luck, Tyler Harris. There were numerous clutch plays that you made during your years that insured victories for PC. Congratulations on your graduation.
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