Harrellson's Sudden Success Lifts Kentucky to Final Four

St. Charles High School basketball star Josh Harrellson has gone from riding the University of Kentucky bench last season to becoming one of the biggest national sports stories during the past two weeks.

Harrellson and the fourth-seeded Wildcats (29-8) will play the University of Connecticut (30-9) in the NCAAA men’s national semifinals on Saturday at 8:49 p.m. The Final Four will air live on CBS beginning with a preview show at 3 p.m.

Harrellson's success in the NCAA Tournament has hoops experts clamoring to find out more about him.

No one can claim to know more about Harrellson’s basketball sojourn than his high school coach, Gary Wacker, a member of the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

“We are really proud of him, and the whole city of St. Charles should be just so proud of him,” Wacker said. “The people that know Josh well could not be any more proud, and has helped put the town on the map. You can’t turn on ESPN right now without seeing him.”

In 24 years at Bowling Green and St. Charles, Wacker won 412 games and eight district titles. He spoke to St. Charles Patch on Friday while taking a break from Final Four events in Houston. He will be on hand to watch Harrellson on Saturday, though he does not plan to talk with him beforehand.

“I just text him before and after the games to let him know we are there for him. I don’t give him any coaching advice other than to just play hard,” Wacker said.

Dave German, the Athletic Director and boys basketball coach at Barat Academy, is very close with Wacker and the two worked together at Barat’s Champions Basketball Academy until Wacker moved to Texas last year.

“We always knew what Josh was capable of if he was dedicated and had the chance. He is now comfortable with himself, and can just play strong, determined, relentless basketball,” German said. “I know Gary is really happy for Josh, and we’ve talked a lot about it. He thinks it’s unbelievable.”

The 6-foot-10, 265-pound center graduated from St. Charles in 2006. In his senior season, Harrelson averaged 18.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3.6 blocks for the Pirates. He led St. Charles to a 23-8 record and the Class 4 state semifinals.

In the NCAA Tournament, Harrellson is averaging 12.8 points and 8.7 rebounds per game while shooting 76 percent. He more than held his own inside against Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger and North Carolina’s Tyler Zeller.

“Josh is a really good, big-hearted kid. We got him as a freshman, and in all honesty he had not really been exposed to basketball,” Wacker said. “Most of his interest had been in baseball and football. So we get this big ‘ol kid and he was already 6-4 or 6-5.

“We always thought he could play Division 1 basketball. This year, once he got the opportunity to play, he has really blossomed. He has gotten better as the season has progressed and that is a result of his teammates really gaining confidence in him,” Wacker said.

Harrellson led the Southeastern Conference this season with 8.8 rebounds per game and in field goal percentage at 61.4. He averaged 6.8 points in the regular season. He seldom played last season, but the Wildcats lost five players to the 2010 NBA Draft, which created more available minutes this season.

Following a highly-publicized negative Twitter episode involving head coach John Calipari before the season began, Harrellson has done nothing but earn respect from everyone who has seen his progress.

“If you watched games early in the year, they would run an offensive set and he would not even touch the ball. Now, the ball goes to him and he is really confident,” Wacker said.

For Connecticut, all eyes will be on star guard Kemba Walker. In four NCAA Tournament games, Walker is averaging 26.8 points. UConn defeated Kentucky in November, 84-67.

“He killed us,” said junior guard DeAndre Liggins, who will defend Walker, during a team media session this week. “It’s going to be a challenge for me. You can’t stop players like that.”

Freshman Jeremy Lamb is the other player to keep an eye on for the Huskies. Harrellson will need help from freshmen gaurds Brandon Knight, Doron Lamb and junior forward Darius Miller.

Wacker said he has been to about 20 Final Fours.

“I saw Magic Johnson play Larry Bird, saw Michael Jordan hit that game-winning shot, saw (Jim) Valvano win it. I also saw Villanova win it. I’ve been very lucky. But this is already the best one for me.”