Hyrum Harris

Hyrum Harris
No. 13 – Perth Wildcats
PositionForward
LeagueNBL
Personal information
Born (1996-06-03) 3 June 1996 (age 28)
Auckland, New Zealand
Listed height204 cm (6 ft 8 in)
Listed weight110 kg (243 lb)
Career information
High schoolFraser (Hamilton, New Zealand)
CollegeUmpqua CC (2015–2016)
NBA draft2018: undrafted
Playing career2015–present
Career history
2015–2017Super City Rangers
2018Hawke's Bay Hawks
2019Southland Sharks
2019–2020Illawarra Hawks
2020Manawatu Jets
2021Cairns Taipans
2021–2023Hawke's Bay Hawks
2021–2023Adelaide 36ers
2023–presentPerth Wildcats
2024–presentWellington Saints

Hyrum Tipene Harris (born 3 June 1996) is a New Zealand professional basketball player for the Perth Wildcats of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). He is also contracted with the Wellington Saints of the New Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL).

Early life

Harris was born in Auckland, New Zealand, and raised in Hamilton.[1] He grew up playing soccer and rugby league.[2][3]

Professional career

NZNBL (2015–2019)

After playing for the Super City Rangers during the 2015 New Zealand NBL season, Harris relocated to the United States to play college basketball for the Umpqua Community College in Oregon during the 2015–16 season.[4][5] He played for the Rangers in 2016 and 2017 before joining the Hawke's Bay Hawks in 2018. In 2019, Harris played for the Southland Sharks,[6] where he averaged 11 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists on an average of 26 minutes a game across 19 games that season.

Illawarra Hawks (2019–2020)

In September 2019, Harris joined the Illawarra Hawks of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) as a development player.[7] Across 16 games, Harris averaged 2.6 points and 1.4 rebounds across an average of 6.7 minutes per game, with a high of eight points and five rebounds against the Adelaide 36ers.[8]

Manawatu Jets (2020)

After not being pre-selected for the NZNBL draft for the 2020 season,[9] Harris was drafted by the Manawatu Jets.[10] Despite missing a few games with injury, he finished the season leading the league with 2.7 steals per game, second in the league with 11.6 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game, whilst also averaging 15.1 points across 30.8 minutes per game.[11]

Cairns Taipans (2021)

On 2 April 2021, Harris signed with the Cairns Taipans of the Australian NBL as an injury replacement player.[12] He made just the one appearance for the Taipans during the 2020–21 NBL season.[13]

Hawke's Bay Hawks and Adelaide 36ers (2021–2023)

Harris returned to the Hawke's Bay Hawks for the 2021 NZNBL season,[14] scoring 18 points in the season opener against the Canterbury Rams on 2 May.[15]

On 3 November 2021, Harris signed with the Adelaide 36ers for the 2021–22 NBL season.[16] He was named the 36ers' Club Most Improved Player.[17]

On 30 March 2022, Harris re-signed with the Hawks for the 2022 NZNBL season.[18]

On 3 May 2022, Harris re-signed with the 36ers for the 2022–23 NBL season.[17]

On 31 January 2023, Harris re-signed with the Hawks for the 2023 NZNBL season.[19] He captained the Hawks and averaged 13.8 points, 9.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.1 blocks per game.[20]

Perth Wildcats and Wellington Saints (2023–present)

On 26 April 2023, Harris signed a two-year deal with the Perth Wildcats.[21] On 15 February 2024, he scored a career-high 15 points in a 108–92 loss to the Illawarra Hawks.[22] He averaged 5.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game during the 2023–24 NBL season.[23]

Harris joined the Wellington Saints for the 2024 New Zealand NBL season.[24]

He is set to re-join the Saints for the 2025 New Zealand NBL season.[25]

National team career

Harris debuted for the New Zealand Tall Blacks during the 2023 FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers.[26]

In July 2023, Harris was named in the Tall Blacks squad for the 2023 FIBA World Cup.[27]

Personal life

Harris is the son of Allies Evans and Reuben Harris.[28]

References

  1. ^ Airey, Thomas (1 April 2022). "Basketball: Hawks re-sign Tall Black Hyrum Harris for 2022 NBL". NZ Herald. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  2. ^ "Hyrum Harris Press Conference - 08 November 2023". YouTube. Perth Wildcats. 8 November 2023. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  3. ^ O'Donoghue, Craig (8 November 2023). "Perth Wildcats star Hyrum Harris on how the physicality of rugby league gave him a rebounding focus". The West Australian. Archived from the original on 9 November 2023.
  4. ^ "Hyrum Harris, Basketball Player". Proballers. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  5. ^ "Hyrum Harris | Basketball New Zealand". nz.basketball. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  6. ^ Jeffrey, Nick (6 March 2019). "NBL Squads – What we know so far". home.
  7. ^ "Welcome, Hyrum!". Facebook. 5 September 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  8. ^ "National Basketball League | NBL". nbl.com.au.
  9. ^ Hinton, Marc (10 June 2020). "Otago Nuggets to pick first as Kiwi NBL gets the ball rolling with historic draft". Stuff. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  10. ^ Egan, Brendon (11 June 2020). "Otago Nuggets select Jordan Ngatai first in NBL Showdown draft". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  11. ^ Williams, Peter (25 August 2020). "2020 Sal's NBL Top 20 Players: #5 – Hyrum Harris (Manawatu Jets)". Basketball Draft Central. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  12. ^ "Taipans Add Hyrum Harris as Injury Replacement". NBL.com.au. 2 April 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  13. ^ "Hyrum Harris". realgm.com. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  14. ^ "He's Back..." www.facebook.com. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  15. ^ "Hawks vs Rams". fibalivestats.com. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  16. ^ "Hyrum Harris Added to 36ers Roster". Adelaide 36ers. 3 November 2021. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  17. ^ a b "Adelaide Re-Sign Hyrum Harris". NBL.com.au. 3 May 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  18. ^ "Harris returns and is hungry for Hawks Success". hawks.org.nz. 30 March 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  19. ^ McLaughlin, Aiden (31 January 2023). "Basketball: Fan favourite Hyrum Harris returning for the Hawks". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  20. ^ "Hyrum Harris leads the way". wildcats.com.au. 2 August 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  21. ^ "Wildcats Welcome Hyrum Harris to Perth". Wildcats.com.au. 26 April 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  22. ^ "Injury-hit Wildcats go down to Hawks in Wollongong". Wildcats.com.au. 15 February 2024. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  23. ^ "NBL24 season review - Hyrum Harris". Wildcats.com.au. 26 March 2024. Archived from the original on 28 March 2024.
  24. ^ "Hyrum Harris signs for 2024". Saints.co.nz. 12 December 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  25. ^ "Hyrum Harris Returns for 2025". www.saints.co.nz. 11 December 2024. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
  26. ^ "Hyrum Harris". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  27. ^ "TALL BLACKS SQUAD OF 14 NAMED FOR WORLD CUP PREP TOUR". nz.basketball. 31 July 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  28. ^ Singh, Anendra (3 May 2018). "Basketball: Hawks swingman Hyrum Harris sees himself as 'an almost bully'". NZ Herald. Retrieved 1 May 2021.