?❤️?❤️ so good to see @JusAnderson1 @SammyZeglinski @ajmitchell25 @EvanNolte, Joe Harris, Doug Browman, and Will Sherrill here cheering for the Hoos. #acctourney pic.twitter.com/WEY0e22QRs
— Streaking the Lawn (@STL_UVA) March 11, 2018
Brooklyn Nets shooting guard Joe Harris was giddy like a kid in a candy store after watching the University of Virginia win the ACC Tournament.
University of Virginia alum and Brooklyn Nets guard Joe Harris was overjoyed to see, in person, his Cavaliers take down the University of North Carolina Tar Heels and win the ACC tournament this past Saturday. The best part? His Cavaliers did it on his NBA home court at the Barclays Center.
Some halftime reading for #Nets fans: Joe Harris shares his experience at the #ACCTournament final. https://t.co/ZjBWwu54wv
— Alex Labidou (@LabidouA) March 12, 2018
“It was awesome,” Harris told Alex Labidou, the Nets’ digital content writer. “Playing here all of the time and then for them to come in and win [was special]. To see how much they’ve improved since the last time I watched them play, the holiday tournament at Thanksgiving here, they’ve improved a lot since then. They were unranked then and to see them win the ACC tournament [now], it was pretty sweet to see how far they’ve come.”
Harris not only got the pleasure to watch his Cavaliers win the ACC tournament but he, along with other ex-Cavalier players, even went on the court after the victory to celebrate with the current squad.
“[We] got to celebrate with everyone afterward,” Harris said before adding “We just went down on the court with them, hung out and watched them cut down the nets.”
Harris believes that Virginia’s key to success is teamwork.
“Yeah, UVA, nothing is really that flashy about them,” Harris said. “They don’t really have the type of players that are like household names or anything like that, but they just play really good together.
“A lot of really good players that know how to play and play the right way – that are great defensively. They don’t really call a lot of attention to themselves, but they are 31-2 so they are having a pretty incredible season. They still slide under the radar a little bit.”
With March Madness right around the corner and with Villanova in many people’s eyes the favorite to win it all, Harris thinks Virginia should get some humble consideration for that spot.
“I think they have as good of a chance as anyone to go all the way,” he said. “Even though I might be biased, everyone else would agree with me based on the season they’ve had to this point.”
Virginia, the No. 1 seed in the South Region, will play UMBC on Friday, March 16, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
