West Virginia University men’s basketball coach Darian DeVries has announced the signing of Sencire Harris to a grant-in-aid for the 2024-25 academic year.

 

Harris, a 6-foot-4, 170-pound guard, sat out last season at Illinois. The native of Canton, Ohio, will be a redshirt sophomore at WVU and have three years of eligibility remaining.

 

“Sencire will fit in great with the way we play in transition and in the half court with his ability to get downhill,” DeVries said. “He is a game changer defensively and has the chance to be one of the best on-ball defenders in the country. Sencire is a winner with incredible energy and passion for the game.”

 

Harris played in all 33 games as a freshman for the Illini, starting seven, and averaged 3.7 points per game and 2.1 rebounds per game to go with 27 steals and 11 blocks. He posted 11 points and five rebounds in 21 minutes at No. 5 Purdue. Harris earned his first career start vs. Bethune-Cookman and scored a career-high 12 points. He scored seven points and tied a career high with eight rebounds in the win at Minnesota.

 

In the win against No. 14 Wisconsin, he tied a career high with three steals and was a team-best +13. Harris was a +10 or higher in five power 5 wins as a freshman (UCLA, Texas, Wisconsin, Rutgers and Northwestern). Against No. 8 UCLA, he was a +16 in just nine minutes to spur the comeback win over the Bruins. Harris had nine points and three steals in his college debut vs. Eastern Illinois. He was a team-high +13 in the win over No. 2 Texas.

 

Harris attended St. Vincent-St. Mary High School and was named the All-Ohio Co-Player of the Year by the OHSAA and Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association. He led St. Vincent-St. Mary to back-to-back Ohio Division II state championships as a junior and senior. The Player of the Year by Cleveland.com averaged 20.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 3.8 steals as a senior. He was a Top-100 recruit ranked No. 62 by Rivals, No. 83 by ESPN, No. 93 by Top247 and No. 94 by On3 Consensus.

 

Editor's Note: Photo of Harris courtesy of WVU Men's Basketball Facebook page.