WATCH: Josiah Harris Talks Decision to Commit to WVU
Last week, power forward Josiah Harris out of Richmond Heights High School in Cleveland, Ohio announced his commitment to West Virginia University on Twitter. The 6'7", 210 lb class of 2022 commit sat down for an exclusive interview with Mountaineer Maven to discuss his commitment decision. You can watch the full interview at the top of this page.
Harris received offers from a number of high-caliber programs, including Ohio State, Kansas State, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech, Xavier, and Cincinnati. However, when Harris received his offer from West Virginia, he didn't think twice.
"It was such a blessing," Harris said of receiving his offer to join WVU's class of 2022. "They were the first high-major school to offer me. It was like they believed in me first, before anyone else. That's just such a blessing."
Harris has envisioned himself wearing the old gold and blue since watching West Virginia defeat Missouri at the WVU Coliseum in January 2020.
"It was so packed," Harris said of the game. "I saw all the fans and I was like, I could just imagine being on the court and playing in front of all those people. It's like the whole state of West Virginia is there—it's an amazing feeling."
West Virginia's winning tradition and coaching staff sealed the deal for Harris, who has followed the program closely since childhood.
"Just the culture at West Virginia," Harris said of why he chose WVU. "The winning tradition and getting to play for a legendary coach in Bob Huggins."
Harris' relationship with the WVU coaching staff made his decision to come to Morgantown a "no brainer."
"The relationship I have with the coaches and they have with my family is just amazing," Harris said. "The beginning of my sophomore year, they began coming out to my high school to watch me play. Ever since then I just started building that relationship."
Harris is especially attracted to WVU head coach Bob Huggins' defensive-oriented program.
"He's a great coach and he's defensive-minded," Harris said of Huggins. "And his resume proves it. He has 900 wins... not many coaches have that. He's just a great coach. I can't wait to go to West Virginia to learn from him."
Before arriving on campus, Harris is focused on building the strength he needs to compete at the next level.
"I'm working on getting better with my strength," he said. "When you get to the next level, everybody is going to be strong. I'm just trying to work on getting stronger and getting my body together for that next level. I just started up with this NFT program out here [in Cleveland]. They're getting me ready with my diet and giving me a strength plan to get stronger and to work on my conditioning."
Once he arrives on campus, Harris has his eyes set on two things: play time and winning.
"To win and get on the court as a freshman," Harris said of his immediate goals. "Winning is so important to me. That's why I love West Virginia and their tradition of winning and their mentality, winning is a big part."
However, Harris is not waiting for his campus debut to begin forming relationships with his future teammates.
"Isaiah Cottrell has been hitting me up," he said. "A lot of the other players have been contacting me and we've been playing Fortnite and building relationships with each other. I can't wait to play with whoever's there when I get there. It's going to be an amazing experience."
As for making his mark at WVU, Harris already has his eyes set on one thing: winning it all.
"I'm trying to go to the National Championship."
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