Indiana Portal Additions: At His Best, Josh Harris Showed Big Upside As A Freshman

The most recent addition to Indiana's roster is former North Florida forward Josh Harris. He has a lot of talent for Darian DeVries to take advantage of.

North Florida Ospreys forward Josh Harris (10) drives to the basket during the second half of an NCAA men’s basketball matchup Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025 at Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, Fla. UNF held off a late rally from JU defeating them 81-78. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] | Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Editor's note: Hoosiers On SI looks at the Indiana players Darian DeVries has brought to the team from the transfer portal and their best performances.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Of the 10 players that Indiana coach Darian DeVries has added from the transfer portal, none is less experienced than North Florida forward Josh Harris.

And yet, Harris might have the highest upside of any of the additions.

Harris committed to Indiana on Tuesday. The 6-foot-8, 220-pound power forward fills a need for the Hoosiers who needed a bit more bulk in the frontcourt.

Harris brings more than just bulk. In his lone season at North Florida, he started every game he played and averaged 13.4 points and 7.1 rebounds.

Indiana could have Harris for three years, and while the Atlantic Sun Conference isn’t the Big Ten, those are encouraging numbers to build on.

Perhaps one question that needs to be answered for Harris – as well as fellow North Florida transfer guard Jasai Miles – is how much their numbers were a product of North Florida’s system. The Ospreys played a high-tempo game, averaging 82.8 points. Indiana is banking that those players made that system high-scoring, not the other way around.

Here’s a look at some examples of Harris when he’s been at his best in his career.

Big Moment

It didn’t take long for Harris to make his presence felt for North Florida. In their seventh game of the season, Harris proved pivotal in a road game at SIU-Edwardsville.

Harris scored 20 points in the Ospreys’ 78-73 victory in Edwardsville, Ill. His production was almost evenly balanced over two halves. He had nine points in the first half and 11 in the second.

Harris made a key layup with 3:46 left to put North Florida up six after SIU-Edwardsville had rallied to make the game close.

However, it was the efficiency that stood out for Harris. For a freshman still coming to grips with college basketball, a 9-for-11 performance from the field to go with nine rebounds was impressive indeed.

Scoring

North Florida Ospreys forward Josh Harris (10) slam dunks the ball in the first half over Jacksonville Dolphins forward Tito Deng (15). Jacksonville University played University of North Florida Thursday night, February 20, 2025 in the River City Rumble in Jacksonville, Fl. JU lead 35-34 over UNF at the half. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union]2025 | Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In his short career, Harris has topped the 30-point mark. He scored 31 in a 90-81 victory at Queens College in November. He’s had five other games where he scored at least 20 points.

In his 30 career games, Harris shot 50% or better 22 times. Much like new teammate Tucker DeVries, Harris is a volume shooter, so 21 of those 50% or better games were on five shot attempts or more.

Harris’ career-best was a 5-for-6 game against Austin Peay in March. His highest career field goal total was 12 in that contest against Queens.

Harris does not shoot many threes. He’s made two in a game three times. On two-point shots, Harris has only failed to convert 50% of those shot attempts seven times.

Harris is a decent free throw shooter for a big man. He’s at 69.5% for his career. He’s had three games where he made four without a miss.

Other Statistics Of Note

One reason Indiana wanted DeVries was for his rebounding. On his 7.1 average, Harris has had four games with 10 or more rebounds. His career-best was 14 boards against non-Division I Warner. Harris had seven offensive rebounds against another non-Division I foe – Edward Waters.

Harris isn’t an elite shot-blocker. He blocked four in a January game against Stetson, but it’s one of only two games in which he had more than one block.

Harris had one three-assist game in his career and four games in which he had two steals.

Advanced Statistics

Having only played one season, there’s not a lot of hard-and-fast data on Harris yet. The one thing that sticks out is his offensive rebounding percentage. He grabbed 13.8% of available offensive rebounds when he was on the floor in 2025. Any offensive rebounding rate in double digits is considered to be very good.

It will be interesting to see how much Harris gets a chance to show what he can do for the Hoosiers. His freshman season was very encouraging.

Related stories on Indiana basketball

• JOSH HARRIS IS A HOOSIER: North Florida forward Josh Harris committed to Indiana. CLICK HERE.

• ALEXIS ADDED TO INDIANA FRONTCOURT: Sam Alexis, who played for national champion Florida, committed to Indiana. CLICK HERE.

• NICK DORN IS A HOOSIER: Former Elon guard Nick Dorn committed to Indiana. CLICK HERE.

• DRAKE COMMITS TO INDIANA: Former Drexel guard Jason Drake has committed to Indiana. CLICK HERE.

• CONERWAY COMMITS: Former Troy guard Tayton Coneway is a Hoosier after he confirmed his commitment on Wednesday night. CLICK HERE.

• MILES IS A HOOSIER: Former North Florida guard Jasai Miles has committed to Indiana. CLICK HERE.

• WILKERSON WANTED TO BE A PRIORITY AND INDIANA MADE HIM FEEL THAT WAY: Lamar Wilkerson explained why he chose Indiana over Kentucky. CLICK HERE.