How Rock Bridge alum Dajuan Harris earned championship credit from his Kansas teammates

Halftime of Monday's NCAA men's basketball championship game was a strange sight.

No. 1 seed Kansas trailed No. 8 seed North Carolina by 15 points. The Tar Heels' March magic was 20 minutes away from shocking the hoops world.

The Jayhawks, however, had an ace up their sleeve in sophomore guard Dajuan Harris — a Columbia native and Rock Bridge alum.

"It was Dajuan," Jayhawks forward Ochai Agbaji said. "His defensive pressure kind of rubbed off on everyone else. That's where we got that momentum from on the defensive end. Everything else fell in place on offense."

Harris' play didn't just earn his teammates' praise. He helped lead Kansas to a historic, all-time classic and thrilling 72-69 win over North Carolina for a national title.

While Agbaji earned the tournament's Most Outstanding Player honor, Harris provided the kickstart to the Jayhawks' comeback Monday night in New Orleans. Harris scored just two points overall on 1 of 5 shooting, but led all players with three steals and tied teammate Christian Braun with three assists.

Harris' inspiration? Simply put, it was the players he was playing next to.

“I didn’t want to lose,” Harris said, before referencing his Kansas teammates. “When I came to college, I came to college with them, besides Remy (Martin). So I just wanted to give it my all for them. That’s all it was.”

Harris wasn't always the player who made electrifying plays, but he helped set them up.

After North Carolina seized momentum in the first half, Harris assisted in Kansas earning some of it back immediately after halftime.

Just 40 seconds into the second half, Harris tossed a lob to Jayhawks center David McCormack for a slam that sent a jolt of adrenaline through Kansas' lineup.

That adrenaline started the comeback. The Jayhawks erased their 40-25 halftime deficit by the 10:53 mark of the second half, tying the score at 50.

"Fifteen went to nine like that, and it was anybody’s game," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "It was special how (Dajuan) triggered that to start the second half.”

Harris, it turns out, isn't a stranger to comebacks in championship games.

He helped lead Rock Bridge to its 2019 Class 5 state championship over CBC, which featured guard Caleb Love, now a star for North Carolina.

Harris outlasted Love again three years later in another title game.

In 2019, Harris lifted Rock Bridge to a title with his offense. Harris scored eight of his 17 points against CBC in the fourth quarter after sitting in the second and third quarters because of foul trouble.

In 2022, Harris lifted Kansas with his defense.

"He's a floor general," McCormack said of Harris. "He can lock up anybody on the court. He just came out with great energy and we followed the same way."

Harris fought through a difficult first half where he committed three turnovers and was minus-14 on the stat sheet.

He also fought through what could have been the most consequential moment of the game, when he stepped out of bounds after receiving an inbound pass with just over four seconds left and Kansas up three points.

Kansas set up the play perfectly. Braun had the inbound pass right in front of the North Carolina bench, and Harris used a screen from Agbaji to cut in front of Braun and receive the pass. But Harris' foot was out of bounds by mere centimeters, resulting in his only turnover of the second half.

That gave North Carolina one last chance to tie the game. A lengthy review put 4.3 seconds on the clock, and Harris had to provide defensive energy one last time.

North Carolina inbounded the ball to Love, whose 3-pointer missed to the left as time expired.

It was fitting a defensive play sealed the championship for Kansas. The late turnover may have given the Tar Heels another chance, but Harris' efforts on defense in the second half were what changed the course of the game.

The Jayhawks scored 47 points in the second half while holding North Carolina to 29.

Harris' Kansas teammates credit that to the mid-Missouri native.

"Dajuan dictated the game on defense," McCormack said.

Chris Kwiecinski is the sports editor for the Columbia Daily Tribune, overseeing University of Missouri and Boone County sports coverage. Follow him on Twitter @OchoK_ and contact him at CKwiecinsk@gannett.com or 573-815-1857.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: How Rock Bridge alum Dujuan Harris earned credit from Kansas teammates