Outstanding freshman season earns LCCC's Rod Harris All-American status

When Lorain County Community College needed to score, it frequently turned to Rod Harris. The 6-foot-5 forward's offensive prowess was rewarded by the National Junior College Athletic Association, which recently named him a third-team All-American after a stellar freshman season. "It felt wonderful," Harris said. "It's a great opportunity for me to get my name out there and I felt like all the hard work paid off. I put a lot of work in and it just showed. I created a routine and stuck to it every day. Watching film, working out, getting advice from my coaches and just playing hard." LCCC coach Marty Eggleston said Harris entered the program as an efficient player who looked to attack one-on-one matchups early and often. That mindset had to be tempered a little at the college level, as Harris found out quickly he needed to develop patience, pick his spots, get into scoring position without the ball and let the offense develop through the team. "I was very impatient at first," Harris said. "I thought everything was just going to happen right out of the gate. My first game I was rushing everything. Once my coach talked to me, told me what to do, I calmed down and just figured it out. I stopped making it hard on myself, let the game flow through my teammates and take advantage of that." It was a quick adjustment, as Harris worked his way to the top of almost every major scoring category in the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference. His 23.1 points per game ranked second in the league and No. 11 nationally. He led the league with an 81.8 free throw percentage. He also averaged 7.8 rebounds, third in the OCCAC. "He was consistent all season," Eggleston said. "He came to work ready to play and on top of that he's a great student in the classroom. He asks the right questions about the game, he's curious about how he can adapt and improve his skills. It looks like he's heading in the right direction to get to the next level." Harris, who went to Akron Garfield High School, scored at least 20 points in 14 of LCCC's 23 games, with a season high of 47 in a 103-98 win against Kent State Tuscarawas on Dec. 29. He came off the bench to play 28 minutes against the Golden Eagles because he was recovering from an illness that caused him to miss the previous two games. He committed two turnovers right off the bat, which only added fuel to his fire. "I didn't really think I was going to score like that," Harris said. "I didn't start that game, my coach was trying to ease me into the game, but once I hit my first two or three shots everything started falling." Eggleston said Harris has a tremendous work ethic on and off the court and is someone who isn't afraid to attack his weaknesses in practice and through film study. He earned three OCCAC player of the week honors and was named national player of the week by the NJCAA on Feb. 2. "He leads by example and has high expectations for his teammates," Eggleston said. "When you lead by example and have those high expectations, that tends to have people want to follow you." Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on Twitter.