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Dayshanette Harris a star on a young Ursuline team
By JOHN HARRIS
YOUNGSTOWN
Ursuline girls basketball coach Vannessa Dickson has high hopes for this season. With good reason. The team to watch in the area is led by the player to watch.
Sophomore guard Dayshanette Harris is a big reason for Dickson’s unbridled optimism. Harris, who scored 51 points in a game as a freshman, averaged 18.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 5.0 steals as Ursuline bolted to a 3-0 start.
Even when Ursuline loses, Harris wins. She scored 30 points and grabbed 12 rebounds — both game highs — in the Irish’s first loss of the year against Akron Hoban.
“My expectations are extremely high,” said Dickson.
Harris, one of four sophomore starters for the Irish, is already receiving attention from Division I programs, including hometown Youngstown State, Kent State and Wright State. Dickson said the list of schools should continue to grow.
“She’s an all-around player who can score on anybody,” said Dickson of the 5-foot-6 Harris. “She can score from anywhere. She can shoot the 3. She can beat you off the dribble and has a nice mid-range jump shot. She’s one of those kids that gets better every day.”
Harris, who respects all of her teammates but especially veterans such as four-year starter Simone Comer, prefers a low-key approach when analyzing her multi-faceted game.
“I’m focused on getting better as a teammate,” Harris said. “Just being there for my team, helping us stay focused. I try to get my teammates into the game. When I see someone that’s off, I try to get them the ball as much as I can so they don’t get down and frustrated.
“Last year, my teammates made me feel like I was part of the team,” said Harris, who scored more than 500 points as a freshman. “They let me know I could do something great. Their confidence in me helped me get confidence in myself and play the way I did. My team made me the way I am right now.”
Comer, a 5-9 senior, sets the tempo on defense.
“Simone has lots of varsity experience and is basketball smart,” Dickson said. “She’s very hard-working, very athletic, very tall and very long. She can pretty much guard anybody that we give her to guard. She’s definitely the experience factor on our team who keeps the other players focused.”
Ursuline starts one senior and four sophomores. Harris is joined in the lineup by fellow second-year players Anyah Curd, Destiny Goodnight and Lindsay Bell, who are all listed at 6-0.
“When we play defense, our athleticism causes a lot of issues for teams,” Dickson said. “We get a lot of hands on the ball and generate a lot of offense with our defense.”
The Irish finished 10-14 a year ago, prompting Dickson, a 2006 Ursuline graduate, to challenge her team.
“We didn’t get a lot of attention last year. We put in a lot of work over the summer,’” the coach said. “We have a chance to do some great things.”
“We’re working to do something very special,” Harris said. “Not taking anything for granted, playing as hard as we can no matter who the team is or what their record says.”