Harris Newsday's boys basketball player of the year

From the moment Tobias Harris chose the orange of Tennessee over the Orange of Syracuse - squeezing every ounce of drama out of the occasion by making the announcement live on ESPNU from the ESPN Zone in Times Square on Nov. 19 - it was clear this was not going to be a typical season for Long Island basketball.

This isn't Hoosier country, so rarely does Nassau or Suffolk produce such a highly-sought-after Division I basketball product. But the spotlight was on Harris and his Half Hollow Hills West teammates from Day 1.

"It wasn't that easy. A lot of people were against us," Harris said. "We kind of liked that, though. It brought us together as a team."

With Harris serving as the Pied Piper off the court, signing countless autographs for young fans all over the Island before and after every game and dominating in myriad ways on the court, the Colts galloped to their greatest season in school history.

Harris averaged 24.0 points, 14.4 rebounds and 3.3 blocks as Hills West won 25 consecutive games (forfeiting one victory for inadvertently using an ineligible player) before losing in the state Class AA championship game in the school's first trip to Glens Falls.

For his season-long excellence, Harris was named Newsday's boys basketball player of the year, won the Dick Sandler Award as the top player in Suffolk and was named to Newsday's All-Long Island first team for a third straight year. He also was voted the state's "Mr. Basketball" by New York coaches and was named Gatorade New York player of the year.

"Tobias is an exciting player and he's fun to play with,'' said teammate and All-Long Island point guard Tavon Sledge. "In practice, he's a no-nonsense guy who wants everybody to go hard. He took control of the team right away. We knew there were high expectations because he had won the Federation title the year before with Lutheran. A lot of kids in school expected him to do it again for Hills West, but it's not that easy."

Harris earned national honors as well. He was a Parade magazine first-team All-American, was named to the USA Basketball National Junior Select Team and was a McDonald's All-American.

The latter honor wound up providing an unfortunate finish to his season. Harris scored 13 points in the first half of the prestigious, nationally televised McDonald's game March 31 in Columbus, Ohio. But he broke a bone in his right foot during the game, missing the second half, and was unable to play in yesterday's Jordan Brand All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden. He still is on crutches but proudly wears his black McDonald's All-American T-shirt and ring from that event to school.

The experience of practicing and playing with the top high school talent in the country proved memorable, Harris said, as was the opportunity to visit sick children at the Ronald McDonald House in Columbus.

"I got to talk to kids, sign autographs for them. It was kind of cool because the kids already knew who we were and had our pictures," Harris said. "It was touching to see that."

Harris said the McDonald's festivities "put a smile back on my face." He said it took him three days to get over what transpired at Glens Falls. A day after the only winning shot of his career, Harris' season ended with a tear-filled loss that also was marred by his actions in the finale. He overreacted to a questionable fourth foul and was promptly whistled for a technical foul, which disqualified him. He watched the fourth quarter of his final high school game from the bench, a picture of total dejection.

He also drew criticism for tossing his second-place medal to the floor during the postgame ceremony. Harris regrets his behavior. "It ended the wrong way with everything that went down," he said. "My reaction was wrong. I wouldn't do that again. You can always learn from those things."

Harris said that when he looks back on his senior year, he'll have mostly positive memories. "It was special to play every game with my brother [Tyler]," Harris said. "Being with the guys. Having big crowds. Having the little kids come see us.

"The whole season was fun."