South Carolina transfer Damontre Harris picks Florida

By Gary Bedore     May 26, 2012

Damontre Harris has decided to continue his college basketball career in a familiar conference — the SEC.

Harris, a 6-foot-9, 225-pound native of Fayetteville, N.C., who played at the University of South Carolina the past two seasons, on Saturday made the decision to transfer to fellow SEC member Florida. He chose Billy Donovan’s Gators over Kansas University.

“The best game I had my freshman year was there, and my sophomore year, that’s probably the best game I had,” Harris told the Fayetteville Observer, referring to Florida’s O’Connell Center. “The (Florida) coaches have been joking with me a lot, so I just tell them it’s the gym and their fans, the atmosphere.”

Harris, who averaged 6.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks a game last season, scored 12 points with nine boards and six blocks in a loss last season at Florida. As a freshman, he had eight points, four rebounds and three blocks in a Gamecocks victory.

Harris, who was named to the All-SEC defensive team, decided to leave South Carolina shortly after former Kansas State coach Frank Martin replaced Darrin Horn as SC coach. He will be able to practice next season but not play in games until 2013-14.

“South Carolina is a great school, a great place to be. They treated me well my two years there, and it’s kind of hard to leave there because I’m kind of established and have got a lot of people I’m leaving behind, a lot of people that supported me, got me where I’m at,” Harris told the Observer.

Coincidentally, Florida is still apparently in the running for former Virginia Tech player Dorian Finney-Smith, a 6-9 sophomore-to-be who is also considering Marquette, Georgetown, Iowa State, Villanova, Texas and Alabama.

KU is in the running for Milton Doyle, a 6-4 senior guard out of Chicago Marshall High who recently visited KU. Doyle averaged 19 points, seven rebounds and nearly five assists a game as a senior for Marshall. Doyle, who decommitted from Florida International following the firing of coach Isiah Thomas, is also considering Marquette and others.

Frankamp scores 39: Future KU guard Conner Frankamp of KC Run GMC exploded for 39 points in an Under Armour AAU tournament game on Friday in Duncanvillle, Texas. He hit four of six threes the first half, then made seven treys the second half. Frankamp, 6-foot senior-to-be from Wichita North, is ranked No. 42 in the Class of 2013 by Rivals.com.

Vaughn impresses: Rashad Vaughn, a 6-5 junior-to-be from Robbinsdale (Minn.) Cooper High who has KU on his list of schools, impressed at the tourney Friday.

“The best prospect in the state (of Minnesota) may be rising junior shooting guard Rashad Vaughn. The 6-5 four-star from Robbinsdale (Minn.) Cooper currently ranks No. 26 in the class of 2014 and it’s easy to see why,” writes Eric Bossi of Rivals.com. “An instinctive scorer, Vaughn already blends athletic drives and pull-up jumpers seamlessly, and looks as if he has plenty of room to grow.”

Bossi said Vaughn has scholarship offers from KU, Baylor, Texas, Georgetown, Iowa State, Colorado, Minnesota and Miami. Vaughn also mentioned Louisville and Michigan State as possibilities.

Taylor works out in Golden State: Tyshawn Taylor worked out for the Golden State Warriors on Saturday. It was his first individual workout for an NBA team in preparation for the June 28 draft. He was joined by Cincinnati’s Yancy Gates, California’s Harper Kamp, LSU’s Justin Hamilton, Oregon’s Garrett Sim and UC-Santa Barbara’s Greg Somogy. Taylor next will work out for Cleveland, followed by Miami and Boston, then the NBA combine in Chicago.

“I’m grateful and blessed to be in a situation teams want to see what I can do. I’m excited to go through the process,” Taylor told csnbayarea.com.

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