Kansas Jayhawks PG Dajuan Harris happy (and relieved) KU’s Senior Day streak lives on
There were a lot of individuals in Allen Fieldhouse, including former Kansas players Christian Braun, Sherron Collins, Nick Collison, Michael Jankovich and Elijah Johnson — as well as actor Rob Riggle — who came to Lawrence on Saturday to cheer a KU Senior Day victory, not mourn a defeat to No. 24 Arizona.
“Senior Night you’ve got to have effort. We’ve got a lot of seniors and had a streak to take care of,” KU senior point guard Dajuan Harris said after the Jayhawks’ 83-76 victory over the Wildcats. The victory extended KU’s Senior Day win streak to 42 games.
“I’m glad I didn’t end up breaking the streak. I’m happy it’s still going from here on out,” Harris added.
Harris scored nine points on 4-of-9 shooting (1-of-1 from 3) with nine assists against one turnover and four rebounds while playing 36 minutes in a victory that upped KU’s record to 20-11 overall and 11-9 in the Big 12.
KU snapped a two-game losing streak. The Jayhawks had dropped consecutive games to ranked teams Houston and Texas Tech.
“A lot of people were worried. I was worried a little bit, but we had a good week of practice,” Harris, a 6-2 native of Columbia, Missouri, said of concern coming into the game. KU in winning avoided losing four home games for the first time since the 1988-89 season.
“We prepared well. We know if we play our game nobody can beat us. We had a lot of juice. Senior Day means a lot to people in Lawrence. We wanted to win for them,” Harris added.
Harris believes the Jayhawks can make a run in both the upcoming Big 12 Tournament and the NCAAs. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi currently has the Jayhawks as an 8-seed in the 2025 NCAA tourney.
Harris told fans in his postgame Senior Day speech: “We can do it.”
“Arizona is one of the best teams in the Big 12, in the country period. They are really a good scoring team,” Harris said. “If we stay true to ourselves, being together, being coachable and following the game plan every game from here on … we’ve got two games left basically. It’s either now or never. We’ve got to take advantage of every little opportunity we get. We have an off day tomorrow, will come back Monday to get back to where we were just at.
“We’ve got to grind here from now on. We know how tough it is going to be because we laid the egg earlier this year. We lost a lot of games, so we’ve got to take the toughest route. We can still do it. We’ve just got to stay together.”
KU coach Bill Self was asked what he thought of Harris’ statement to the fans that the Jayhawks “can do it.”
“First of all, we’ve got a new sound system, and I’m really proud of it. But I couldn’t hear a word anybody was saying (during Senior Day speeches), right there next to the court. I couldn’t hear a word. So I don’t know what Juan said or didn’t say,” Self said.
Indeed the sound system may be in need of some adjusting this offseason.
“I do agree. It’s kind of an open-ended deal. ‘We can do it.’ Well, what can we do?” Self asked. “And to me, what we can do is give the best version of KU that we’ve seen all year long. And if we do that, then I’d be pretty happy rolling the dice. We’ll see what happens.”
Self said he was pleased KU’s seven seniors, especially Harris and KJ Adams, claimed the slump-busting victory on Senior Day.
“It wasn’t as emotional,” Self said of listening to postgame speeches of Harris, Adams, Zeke Mayo and walk-ons Dillon Wilhite and Patrick Cassidy. Hunter Dickinson and Shakeel Moore also were honored before and after the game, but did not speak to the fans.
“I don’t know if you guys know it, we almost couldn’t start Dajuan. He couldn’t quit crying after introductions, and then he doesn’t shed a tear speaking. He got it all backwards,” Self added with a smile.
“But those two (Adams, Harris) are different to me, because Dajuan has been through more than most people would ever go through in their life from a tragic or heartbreaking childhood. Not too many people go through what he’s been through. Now, there are people that do that struggle with health and a lot of things. But the gang violence, the murders, incarcerations and the school, the academic part. There’s a lot of things that were on his plate, and he used all that to get the last laugh, which is what men do. So I’m really proud of him,” Self added.
Harris’ brother was murdered in Columbia during Harris’ freshman year at KU.
“My freshman year I was an academic redshirt. A lot of people know I lost my bigger brother during that time. It was a tough stretch. My teammates had my back, let me realize I didn’t lose a brother because I was with them (teammates) every day,” Harris said. “All the credit goes to my past teammates who were here.”
He and Adams received thunderous ovations from the fans after Harris connected with the Austin, Texas native on a lob dunk play with just over a minute remaining. Harris and Adams have hooked up on lob slams numerous times the past four years.
“Thank you for all the support through the years. I know there have been a lot of ups and downs. You all have stayed true to us and you still believe in us,” Harris said. “It shows when we come home and you pack out the arena every game. I had the time of my life playing here. It was a great thing.”
KU, the No. 6 seed in the Big 12 tournament, will meet the winner of Tuesday’s UCF-Utah game at approximately 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at T-Mobile Center.
The winner of KU’s game will meet No. 3 seed Arizona at approximately 8:30 p.m. Thursday.
