Basketball coach hits ground running

New Rattler Basketball Coach Eugene Harris has hit the ground running. Harris who was named coach nearly a month a go had no choice.

With practice officially underway, Harris is spending his time trying to get to know his players better and having them get acquainted with him.

Short on time and basic resources, like last year's game film, Harris has finds himself in a difficult situation. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find much game film to evaluate last year's team," said Harris. "Getting that would help me out a lot."

Harris has also found himself having to clean up the gymnaisum, washing down backboards, and preparing the facility for practice.

At present Harris has no assistant coaches, the remaining assistant from last year resigned last week, and he been able to officially bring his assistant coaches on board. "It's been kind of tough because I haven't hired some staff yet because you have to advertise the positions," Harris said, "because of the university's job-posting requirements."

Beacuse of this, "I've not been able to do a lot of breakdown drills with the guys, and some guys haven't been able to take their physicals because some things at this school run a little bit slower. Right now, we're already two months behind everyone else."

Instead, Harris has spent his time on the recruiting trail. His Rattlers only have 11 scholarship players this season, so he needs to land a good-sized class for next season. A long-time talent evaluator in the Southeast who helped build championship programs at Clemson and Auburn, Harris is in his element delivering a sales pitch. His biggest issue is that he can't clone himself.

"I don't have a problem, because I'm pretty good in the homes and I am the head coach, but you can't cover a lot of ground," Harris said. "You're only getting maybe one or two [visits] a day when a lot of coaches are doing maybe four a day, so that puts you behind in recruiting."

That's all for next year, though. Harris still needs to ready himself for this season and the trials and tribulations of a first season at a new program.

None the less, Harris is excited about taking over a program that made the NCAA Tournament last season but now needs to rebuild -- and heal in the wake of former coach Mike Gillespie's dismissal after he was arrested for stalking a former girlfriend.

Despite his predecessor's awkward end, Harris is not downplaying what Gillespie accomplished at the school and said the incident hasn't hindered the new coach's efforts on the road.

"The man did a good job here, and I'm going to build on that," Harris said. "He went to the NCAA Tournament and he graduated players. Those are two of the most important things you can do in a program. Now, what happened to him is unfortunate, but I'm not going to have to fight that in recruiting. The man just made a mistake."

Harris points to a forthcoming new arena and the ongoing efforts of the university's president as evidence he made the right decision in taking this job. He said he sees a future built around the plentiful talent in the Southeast and other urban centers where FAMU has alumni presence.

"Florida A&M has a name where I think we can go get a player," Harris said. "You're not always going to get the All-American … but I'm going to at least talk to them and they're going to have to turn me down."

Given all that he has experienced just to get to this point, a little rejection is nothing to fear.

Also see: Harris likely to be named coach