COLUMBIA — Put it this way — it’s coming.
So Ty Harris is perfectly fine now with staying out of the spotlight.
“I just take what I get. I love playing with A’ja (Wilson) and I love playing for this team,” South Carolina’s sophomore point guard said. “I’m not even focused on that. I’m just focused on the game plan and playing.”
Harris is known. She took over the starting role midway through last season and was the point guard on a national championship team. She’s also proven she can light it up when she has to, scoring in double figures her last nine games and putting up a career-high 28 points against Tennessee.
But she’s very much the “other” in conversations about the Gamecocks, who feature National Player of the Year frontrunner A’ja Wilson. Even when Wilson missed that Tennessee game and Harris darned near led USC to a win anyway, it was more about what the Gamecocks were missing than what they had.
Next year, it will be her turn. Wilson will be gone and Harris will be a two-year starter returning for her junior season at the most important spot on the floor.
This year? Attention can go elsewhere, although it’s getting increasingly harder to ignore how much Harris gives to this team.
“I know she doesn’t (receive attention). I think a lot of people got a little South Carolina fatigue,” coach Dawn Staley said. “If she keeps doing what she’s doing, you’ll hear my mouth say it. But I don’t think another point guard is doing what she’s doing, in our league or around the country.”
Harris is leading the SEC in assists (131) and assists per game (6.9), ranking 10th nationally in both categories. She’s posted six double-doubles in her last 12 games. She has a strong chance of breaking the single-season assist record (219) that's stood since 1984.
It’s not just as simple as getting the ball to Wilson, who is often swarmed in the paint with double- or triple-teams. Harris often must find someone else to pass to.
Many times, the least they can do with such a textbook pass is make the shot.
“It’s not an assist until they finish it, so I encourage them to do that and they just make a play,” Harris grinned.
The hardest position to play on any USC sports team might be point guard for Staley, the finest to ever play it. Succeed and it’s what you’re supposed to do. Fail and it’s a quick reminder of who’s still the queen.
“For me, I always look at the weaknesses,” Staley said. “She’s not nearly the defender that she used to be last year, and it’s probably because she’s carrying a heavier load.”
Yet even Staley realizes how good she’s been, especially after stepping in as a freshman and splitting duties with then-junior Bianca Cuevas-Moore.
“She’s seeing the floor extremely well,” Staley said. “She’s picking her spots to be aggressive offensively.”
Harris is giving the instruction she gained last year to her younger teammates, coaching freshman Bianca Jackson on how it’s done and bonding with everybody outside the arena. They all know Harris is going to get them the ball, and they don’t want to let her down by missing the handle or the bucket.
“The more we hang out off-court, the more I get to know them better. It helps us on-court and I think we just have great chemistry,” she said. “It’s amazing. I like passing. My teammates, they finish it.”
• Mikiah Herbert Harrigan (left knee) is out Thursday but wants to play against No. 11 Missouri on Sunday. Staley said they’ll see how she progresses. Lindsey Spann (right knee) is definitely out for Thursday and Sunday.