Impact of Harris Felt Immediately at CS Long Beach

Lucious Harris celebrated his 19th birthday Monday by scoring a season-high 17 points for the Cal State Long Beach basketball team.

A coming-out party?

Hardly. The 6-foot-5 freshman guard from Cleveland High had long since made his presence felt during his first collegiate season.

Harris is averaging 10.9 points, third on the team, and has been a starter in all but one game.

More importantly, he has played a key role in the 49ers winning six of their first seven, the fastest start for Long Beach in more than a decade.

Against North Texas State on Monday, Harris made seven of his first nine field-goal attempts as the 49ers gained a 92-74 victory before a capacity crowd at the Long Beach gymnasium.

But that performance pales in comparison to his last-second heroics in games played earlier this month.

It was a Harris steal with three seconds left that led to the winning basket in the 49ers’ 70-69 upset of Purdue on Dec. 2. Two weeks later, on the road against Texas, he made a three-point shot at the buzzer to pull out an 89-87 win for Long Beach.

“He doesn’t play like a freshman. He’s cool and calm,” said Bob Braswell, a Long Beach assistant who coached Harris at Cleveland. “The Purdue game was probably the best example of that.

“We were down by two, less than a minute to play, and we called his number, set up a play designed for him, and he hit the shot. Then he got the big steal to win the game.”

Just call him Cool Hand Lucious.

Harris, who averaged 20.9 points a game as a high school senior, had his own plan when he accepted a scholarship offer from Long Beach last spring. But it didn’t include starting as a freshman.

“I was hoping I could make the team and pick up a few minutes,” Harris said. “I thought, maybe I could start my junior year.”

Redshirting Harris during his freshman season was briefly considered by the 49er coaching staff, but Braswell said that option was quickly discarded.

“He played himself out of redshirting real quick,” Braswell said. “It’s very difficult for a freshman to start on any college level, let alone Division I, but Lucious worked hard over the summer and really didn’t leave Coach (Joe) Harrington a choice.”

Harris said he wasn’t sure that he belonged at the major-college level until he scored 27 points in an intra-squad scrimmage during Long Beach’s early season workouts.

But cracking the starting lineup? Well, that was another thing all together.

“It surprised me a lot,” Harris said. “I thought I would come off the bench.” Or at least be riding it with a game on the line.

“The Purdue game I was really scared,” Harris said. “My stomach had a lot of butterflies. But when (Harrington) called the play for me I just thought, ‘Put it down. Got to make it.’

“Later I thought, ‘Why did he call on me?’ But he made the right choice, and it boosted my confidence a lot.”

Braswell says looking to Harris in the clutch could fast become a trend for the 49ers.

“He’s shooting the ball very well,” Braswell said. “He’s a slashing type player who can drive to the basket or hit the jump shot, and right now he’s doing all the right things.”