VAUGHT: Harris wouldn't slack off

Ramon Harris was tempted at times during the summer maybe not to work out as hard every day as the Kentucky coaching staff wanted him to. After all, he had shown coach Billy Gillispie last season that he could contribute in a variety of ways and with a year’s experience, he figured to automatically be better this year. But Harris knew he couldn’t slack off even one day.

“I just tried to stay in shape, eat right and exercise a lot,” he said. “About all I did during the summer was work out, lift weights and play basketball. I worked on my jump shot a lot. Hopefully that will make me a more accurate shooter this year.

“At times, I have fun, especially when I was shooting. But there were a lot of times working out wasn’t much fun. You try to tell yourself it will make you better. When you are tired, you would rather sit down and watch TV or something. But I was always glad I didn’t do that and went ahead and got my work done. I know it will make me better.”

It’s easy to take Harris’ game for granted. He’s not a prolific scorer or rebounder, but he can do both. He can also be a tenacious defender. He’ll pass the ball. He’ll run the court. He’ll take a charge. He’ll set a screen.

“I do think a lot of people take what he does for granted,” said teammate A.J. Stewart.

“He guards everybody, and I mean everybody.”

Harris hopes fans do appreciate his all-around skills.

“I do like for people to see that I just work hard and do what I can to help my team win. It’s appreciated when anyone says something good about my game because you work on all parts of your play and want to be recognized,” Harris said. “But you also can’t worry about that. You play to help your team win, not for recognition”

Harris believes Kentucky’s new players this year will adhere to that same philosophy and will be able to help the Cats win more.

“I really do think they fit in. They can each do a lot of different things to make us better . It is hard to point one out as helping more than the others. You see them all putting in the hard work and see them all improving from the summer to now,” he said.

He also says not to worry about UK’s so-called problem at point guard with what he has seen from Kevin Galloway, DeAndre Liggins and Michael Porter.

“I don't think we have a point guard problem. We have good guards there. I see what they do daily. If that is our problem, then we are in pretty good shape,” Harris said.