State Over Self
February 19, 2025 | Men's Basketball, Joel Coleman
Claudell Harris Jr.’s unselfishness is keying another big Bulldog surge.
STARKVILLE – In sports, it's common to hear talk of unselfishness. There is often chatter of putting the team first and playing for the name on the front of the jersey and not the one on the back.
All that sounds good. Not everyone can do it. Ego can get in the way.
But if you're ever looking to point to a walking, talking example of how to put squad over self, next time you're watching Mississippi State men's basketball, direct attention to Claudell Harris Jr. It's appropriate the senior guard wears No. 0. Because he truly plays like a man willing to view others and the group as a whole as greater than himself.
 "You root for all your guys, but when you get a one-year guy and he's totally [bought into] the culture the way he has, you want him to do well," MSU head coach Chris Jans said on Tuesday, moments after Harris helped lead No. 21 State to a huge win over No. 7 Texas A&M.
Harris is the consummate professional, in that victory is really and truly his ultimate goal. Again, a lot of folks might say the same. Harris embodies it.
Take, for instance, a moment in Tuesday's momentous victory over the Aggies.
It was the first half and Harris had the opportunity for a shot of his own. Did he take it? Nope. He instead tried to make something happen for his Bulldog brothers.
Sure, one could argue in that instance, it'd have been OK for Harris to be a little greedy. Even his teammates thought so.
"As [Harris] was coming back on defense, it was a dead ball," Jans recalled. "I looked and there were three of our guys and one's standing up and barking at [Harris] to shoot the darn basketball. I'm like, 'OK, yeah, shoot it Claudell. Keep shooting the ball.' I joined in on the party.
"But that tells you a lot – the respect he has from his teammates that early in the game they are encouraging him not to turn down shots."
State wants Harris putting it up more often than not as it was his reputation as a tremendous scorer that brought him to MSU in the first place.
Coming into this year, Harris has averaged double figures in scoring every single season of his college career. At Charleston Southern, he totaled 10.3 points per game as a freshman and followed that up with 17.4 points per game as a sophomore. Last year, at Boston College, Harris finished with 13.7 per contest.
He's kept piling up the points in Starkville, currently sitting on 10.2 points per outing. However, Harris admits the ball hasn't gone in the hoop as consistently as he'd like.
But guess what? Harris' character keeps shining through as the frustration of missed shots has been very much eased by how much State keeps winning.
"Me as a scorer, sometimes it's hard [if shots aren't going in] and you don't see the stats you're used to," Harris said. "But at the end of the day, it is all about winning. You know, if I have no points but we win by 20, I'll be happier than if I had 20 points and we lost. That's the mentality I go in with every game."
That mindset has allowed Harris to transition back to a bench role in MSU's last two games. Perhaps not so coincidentally, Harris' selflessness has been a spark behind two of State's best showings of the year – a beatdown of rival and then-19th-ranked Ole Miss last Saturday ahead of the Top-10 takedown of Texas A&M on Tuesday.
Before last weekend, Harris had started 14 straight for State. But when Jans decided the team might could be boosted by changing things up, Harris was on board.
"He handled it well [like it was] nothing," Jans said of Harris moving to a reserve role. "He was like, 'Whatever we've got to do, Coach.' You know, he's about winning. We just felt that it was time to just tweak it a bit and change up some of the guys that were playing together more minutes because of how you start and how you sub.
"[Harris] works so hard, and he's such a good guy. He's as energized as we have in terms of shootarounds, in terms of stuff they're not excited about doing, walkthrough stuff or half-speed stuff. He's always leading the charge in terms of his energy, his talk and his focus. Our staff appreciates him so much."
Bulldog players all have gratitude for Harris, too – for what he delivers the Dawgs on and away from the court.
"Man, he's our fun guy," Josh Hubbard said of Harris. "He makes all the jokes. He always brings his energy. You know, he's just cool to hang around."
Basketball teams everywhere would love to have a Claudell Harris Jr. on the roster. Fortunately for State, the Dawgs have the one and only.
And as this season keeps trending closer and closer to the madness of March, you can rest assured Harris will be doing absolutely whatever he can to push the Dawgs out onto the dance floor. It's just his nature. It's who he is.
"I'm just trying to win," Harris said. "It's Bulldog basketball. So, however we try to win, I'm willing to do it. I feel like perspective is everything. You just have to make the most of every opportunity you get in order to help your teammates win."