Georgia College's Terrell Harris enjoying his time in spotlight

Terrell Harris used to be Robin to his brother’s Batman. Two years younger than Tia Harris, Terrell was the little kid in the park talking trash to others about his older brother’s dominance on the hardcourt.

In high school at Martin County in Stuart, Florida, Tia earned the limelight. He was an all-state selection as both a sophomore and junior, averaging 17.9 points, 6.4 assists, 6.1 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game as a junior.

Terrell said everyone knew him.

“I always wanted to be like my brother so bad that I was always like his sidekick,” Terrell said. “I just wanted to be like him so bad.”

So Terrell started playing basketball in eighth grade. The Floridian originally loved football, but his brother’s influence over him was too strong. He had to be like Tia.

But once the Harris family moved from Martin County to William T. Dwyer, Terrell was the one who began to earn the spotlight.

“(Tia’s) game fell back a little because it just wasn’t a program he could run over,” Terrell said. “It was a program he had to work hard for to play … I always had the work ethic. He was kind of lazy.”

Now Terrell is the one driving the Batmobile.

This season at Georgia College, Harris averaged 24.6 points as a senior en route to winning the Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year honor. But that wasn’t all.

The Bobcats star was also an honorable mention All-American by the D2CAA and was named to the first-team All-District by the National Association of Basketball Coaches and All-Southeast Region Team by the D2CAA.

Harris played in the Division II College All-Star Game, and his 24.6 points-per-game average tied for the third highest by a Peach Belt player in the conference’s history.

“He was the most efficient, unselfish scorer I’ve ever seen,” said Georgia College head coach Mark Gainous, who has been coaching for more than 20 years. “I think it would be safe to say that he is, if not the best player to ever play at Georgia College, one of the best players to ever play.”

Harris’ road to Milledgeville was not a simple one. After winning a state title and competing for a national championship as a senior at Dwyer, Harris began his collegiate career at Mars Hill — as a roster filler.

“I actually got lucky,” Harris said. “A kid got kicked out of Mars Hill that summer from a failed drug test. God blessed me in so many ways.”

After a starting guard suffered an injury the exhibition before the first game, Harris was moved into the starting lineup as the next man up. He scored 21 points in 35 minutes.

“I never came out (of) the lineup after that,” Harris said.

Not only did he earn his spot in the rotation, but he thrived: The freshman averaged 19.2 points and received SAC All-Freshman Team honors.

After Harris’ head coach — Thomas Nash — retired, the freshman looked at transferring to three Division I schools: Stetson, Jacksonville and the New Jersey Institute of Technology. But none fit.

So Harris tested the Division II ranks and was going to commit to Valdosta State — until he visited Georgia College.

“My dad just told me to come on and visit,” Harris said. “I came on a visit, and it reminded me so much of my hometown. … The coaching staff and basketball team reminded me so much of Dwyer. Everything just felt right.”

But all was not well during Harris’ first year in Milledgeville. He decided to redshirt because of class credit issues; his eligibility would have run out before he finished his degree had he not redshirted. Harris called it the best decision of his life, but he didn’t always feel that way. He was impatient at that point in his career.

“(It was) probably one of the worst years of my life,” he said. “I actually thought about giving (basketball) up.”

He utilized the redshirt experience to become more patient, learn how to watch film and understand the intricacies of the college game. Even though the team struggled his sophomore and junior seasons, going 10-16 and 9-19, Harris led the team in scoring both seasons with 17.4 points per game.

While he enjoyed individual successes his first two years at Georgia College, he said he matured greatly the summer after his junior year.

His greatest role model had taught him a lesson — just not in the ideal fashion.

After struggling academically in high school and leaving Tallahassee Community College after one year, Tia Harris was sentenced to two years in prison March 5, 2015, on possession and sale of cocaine. Terrell Harris said it both motivated and hurt him.

“His downfall is actually my come-up. I learned from a lot of his mistakes, even though he didn’t know he was actually teaching me at the time,” Harris said. “It got me to where I am today. It’s crazy how life works. He was supposed to be the one enjoying all this success, and I was kind of trapped in his shadow; everyone knew me as Tia’s little brother. I learned from his mistakes, kept working on my game and my game finally caught up to my body, and I flourished once I got to college.”

During the summer before his senior season, Harris said he started to take basketball more seriously. He even looked back and called himself a “part-time basketball player” when he first arrived at Georgia College.

He was frustrated with the losing. In order to grow more patient, Harris took piano lessons; it was during this period that his faith also grew. The win totals followed. The Bobcats, behind Harris’ performance, broke the .500 mark at 18-11 after three straight losing seasons.

“I did everything that I wanted to do,” Terrell said. “I actually have a book that I wrote out that I wanted to win Player of the Year. I started writing that I wanted to win Player of the Year when I got my mind right this summer. August 31, 2015 … I wrote, every day, ‘I will win 2015-2016 Peach Belt Player of the Year.’ And March 4, I won 2015-2016 Peach Belt Player of the Year.”

Gainous said he had to make adjustments to the offense because of how efficient Harris was shooting the ball. He finished the season on a 59.1 percent clip.

“He had the ultimate green light, where he could shoot any shot he wanted at any time,” Gainous said. “I just felt like it was the best thing for our team. I told him, ‘You can shoot any shot you want to shoot. I’m not going to say a thing about a shot all year.’ And I didn’t.

“Not many guys can have that. I wish I had that in college, but that’s not the case.”

While Tia Harris never reached the college game like Terrell Harris did, the Bobcats star still cannot help but look up to his older brother — learning from the good and the bad. They still stay in contact and try to talk every other Sunday.

“He’s still like my idol in a way, because I wanted to be like him so bad. Mom was like, ‘I’m living out his dream,’ ” Harris said. “I can’t wait until he gets out, because he used to always whoop my behind in one-on-one, but I’m not little brother anymore.”

He’s a soon-to-be professional.

“I was always a late bloomer trapped in my brother’s shadows, so a lot of people didn’t know about me,” Terrell said. “That’s why I think a lot of the things I do now surprise a lot of people.

“I’m like the shadow in the dark that’s always lurking — always lurking.”

This story was originally published April 19, 2016 at 2:41 PM with the headline "Georgia College's Terrell Harris enjoying his time in spotlight."