Hattiesburg guard Harris' hard work paying off

Nothing has come easy for Alex Harris. 

The Hattiesburg senior guard has had to fight tooth and nail for everything he's earned. 

And that's one of the reasons he's the leader for the Tigers, even though he never thought that would be his role. 

"I didn't know back then," he said. "I was lucky to learn a lot my sophomore year from a lot of really good seniors about how to be a leader and how to handle things. They taught me a lot and how to play and work hard." 

In fact, Harris wasn't expected to make much of an impact at all. When Harris played basketball for Hattiesburg as an eighth and ninth grader, coach Ernie Watson saw an undeveloped player. 

Harris, who was undersized at 5-foot-7, wasn't very good on either end of the floor and struggled at most aspects of the game. Even Harris admits he was discouraged. 

"It was tough," he said. "I didn't think I was going to grow enough. I thought I would get better, but I knew I needed to get bigger. I still have to get bigger. I always thought I was a little small. It worked out, but I was discouraged my freshman year." 

But Watson wasn't. 

The veteran coach saw potential in Harris and decided to take him under his wing. 

"I saw he could shoot a little bit," Watson said. "He struggled in some areas and he was a little small, but there was something there. He could shoot a little bit and I knew if he would work hard where he could get. I saw it." 

After Harris' freshman season, he joined the varsity basketball team. And to the delight of both him and his coach, Harris grew four inches all the way to 5-foot-11. 

'That really helped him," Watson said. "That gave him a little more confidence. But I knew I needed to challenge him and that's when I stuck him on some of our best seniors." 

While Harris' height was a big advantage and confidence boost, he was still raw in his basketball skills. And so Watson challenged Harris' work ethic. Watson pushed Harris in practice, making sure the senior players on the 2014 Hattiesburg team motivated Harris to work harder than he ever had before. 

But Harris didn't just answer the challenge his coach laid before him; instead, he took it to another level. Harris spent late nights in the gym, running sprints so much he had to wipe the gym floor to clean the sweat, while shooting shots until he couldn't lift his arms and pushing himself to his limit. 

"I had a routine," he said. "I would shoot 100 shots and then run sprints. Shoot another 100 and then run some more. I would get up and do that, then hit the Y (YMCA) and play ball there for a long time. Then we would go to the park and play until one or two in the morning. From the time I woke up until I went to bed it was basketball." 

Harris admits, though, he wasn't the only one behind the development of his work ethic. Harris' mother, Shantel Arnett, worked hard and instilled in her son the meaning of hard work. 

"She did a lot for me," Harris said. "She still does. But I saw how hard she worked and I wanted to give back to her, too. I wanted to help her because I saw how hard she was working to provide for me. Anytime she comes home from work I'll try to help her out." 

"She's been so key for him," Watson said. "She set an excellent example for him. He still acts like a knucklehead sometimes, but you rarely have to get him going. He sees it every day in his mom and how hard she works and so he molds himself after that. And even when she's not working she will come here and work the concession stand for us. She's been a big influence on him." 

Thanks to his hard work, Harris became a starter in his junior season, leading the Tigers to the playoffs. 

Now in his senior season, the Tigers are Harris' team. Watson says he didn't give it to Harris. He earned it. 

"He works his butt off every day," Watson said. "He's gotten to this point by putting in the work and now the other guys look up to him now. He's our leader and this is his team, no doubt."