Since Damontre Harris re-enrolled at Florida at the start of the semester, he has so far been successful in his attempts to work his way back into coach Billy Donovan’s good graces.
Donovan said Monday that Harris, who was dismissed from the team last month, has practiced with the No. 3 Gators every day in a role on the scout team imitating opposing teams’ frontcourt players. The center has lifted weights and gone through individual instruction at UF’s basketball facility while the team is in the midst of its Southeastern Conference slate.
Although Harris has done everything that is asked of him, Donovan reaffirmed the center will not play for the team this season.
“He’s doing everything else everybody else is doing, except he is not on the bench during games,” Donovan said.
“He is not going to play any games, but everything else he is doing right now. He’s got an opportunity to salvage. It’s disappointing to me; (he’s) a guy that sat out an entire year to jeopardize himself like that in terms of his behavior.”
Harris was originally dismissed from the Gators on Dec. 21, 2013, after not practicing with the team for about two months and being suspended for UF’s first 11 games — including a home exhibition — for violating team rules. At the time, Florida granted Harris permission to transfer to the school of his choice without restrictions, but the 6-foot-10 South Carolina transfer declined.
During the holiday break, Harris had a change of heart.
He felt like he had “made a big mistake,” according to Donovan, and he wanted a shot to work his way back.
“Over the holidays, it was laid out pretty clear to him if he wanted to come back this is what he needed to do,” Donovan said. “In doing so he was going to lose a whole year basically, and he still wanted to do it.
“His behavior and what he has been doing at least up until this point since he’s been back, since the break, has been positive.”
During his redshirt season at UF, Harris dealt with multiple issues — including a torn labrum, high ankle sprain, strep throat and an arrest for failing to appear in court on a traffic violation.
Overall, he practiced about only 10-12 times.
But a year prior at South Carolina, Harris was a regular contributor for the Gamecocks.
During his sophomore season in Columbia, S.C., he started 30 games at center and averaged 6.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per contest. He recorded 71 blocks, which tied for second in the SEC behind Kentucky’s Anthony Davis — a future No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft.
Harris could make an impact in 2014-15 for the Gators, who will lose frontcourt players Patric Young, Casey Prather and Will Yeguete to graduation after this season ends.
But if Donovan sticks to his code, Harris will have to wait awhile to see the floor.
Donovan was asked Monday if he would bring Harris back in March if the team needed the towering center’s presence in the postseason.
His response?
“It would completely devalue what our core values are here in terms of what we are trying to do each and every day,” Donovan said.
“We have too many guys like Patric Young and Yeguete and Prather and those guys who have been committed for years, really working and doing the right things. And for us to all the sudden inject him back in there because he may be able to help our team — we’ve done fine without him.”
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Damontre Harris poses at media day on Oct. 10, 2012. Harris, who left the team in December 2013, has practiced with the Gators after re-joining the team. Coach Billy Donovan said Harris will not play for Florida until next season.
