On February 2, junior Brady Harris made a three-pointer in a conference game against North Shore Country Day to reach 1,000 high school career points. With that basket, Harris joined fewer than ten documented players in Parker history to achieve 1,000 points. He also became the first ever junior to do so.
“It was probably the most memorable three point shot I made in my life,” Harris said. “Joseph [Evans] gave me a pass. I caught it in stride, and I just stopped and shot a three.”
Going into the game, Harris had scored 993 career points and needed seven to achieve 1,000 points.
Harris reached his one thousandth career point early in the away game. Before he made the basket, Harris said he was “just really excited to be the first person in Parker’s history to hit it as a junior.” Harris said that after, “It didn’t really simmer in, like, the gravity of the accomplishment…it was really cool to be able to see how my team reacted to it and how much support I got.”
The support came from all around the school and included his friends and teammates. “I’m so proud of him and very happy for his accomplishment,” junior and captain Matthew Oppenheimer said. “Brady… is one of the primary reasons for our success because of his leadership and knowledge of the game.”
To recognize Harris’s milestone, he got a post on the Colonels Athletics instagram page, along with a tweet from his Head Coach, Jarrick McGee.
“When [players] have success during the season, you want to push that information via social media. It helps the student-athlete that wants to pursue a sport in college,” McGee said.
Harris was also recognized before the team’s following home game against Steinmetz College Prep. Harris was given a banner and walked out to the middle of the court and took a photo with McGee as his milestone was announced in front of the crowd.
The milestone came as a result of seven years of early morning practices and late night workouts, a routine that Harris has maintained without missing a day.
“I reached 1,000 points from staying consistent and trusting myself and being confident,” Harris said. Harris has tried to put as many hours into practicing as possible since he started playing. “I have played basketball every single day for probably the past seven years,” Harris said.
Harris indicated that he works out from “5:30 to 7:00 every morning before school and tries to work out in the evenings, especially in the off season…My training schedule becomes a lot more rigorous, where I have my trainer in the morning,” Harris said, “and then I have a different workout at night…sometimes my workouts will be plyometrics and getting my body in the best shape.”
As a result of his training, Harris has also scored more 30 point games in a season than any player in Parker’s history, surpassing the previous record of 550 points in the regular season, and scoring a total of 566 points
“Scoring points might seem easy but you have to put in the work via the offseason,” McGee said, “Brady Harris, as a basketball player, is determined and hard working. He’s a difference maker when on the court. He works even harder via training.”
In terms of IHSA recognition, Harris was awarded all conference, region, and all state honorable mention last year. This year, Harris won ISL Conference Player of the year as well as first team all conference. With his team, Harris also won conference this year, sharing the title with Latin. Parker had previously not won conference since 2005. “I’m pretty sure that we’re going to win the conference next year,” Harris said. In his remaining time at Parker, Harris’ goals for the varsity team include being back to back conference champions, winning regionals, and making a state run.
“I think that next year we have a lot of potential to do something really special for the school, like making a state run.” Harris said that all of his teams’ off-season work, “really came together this year,” and next year’s potential due to the several upcoming upperclassmen.
Beyond high school, he hopes to “use all the hours I’ve worked to play against people that are at such a higher level compared to high school,” in college. “I’ve talked to some Ivy League schools and some [Atlantic Coast Conference] (ACC) schools and hopefully my recruiting goes well, and I can play at the next level and represent Parker in a collegiate environment, and play March Madness,” Harris said. “If college goes well, Pro is obviously something on my mind, but that’s less likely, and I just want to take it one step at a time.”
He attributes his success not only to his hard work but also to his teammates and coaches. “This team is a really special group of guys, and I couldn’t do it without my team. So, you know, props to them and my coaches,” Harris said. “My coaches are amazing, like seriously, we’re so lucky to have a coaching staff the way we do. Their support for me and putting me in the right positions to do what I can do, is really important, and we’re just going to grow from here.”
