Georgetown's Jalen Harris takes a leave of absence from Hoyas originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Graduate student Jalen Harris will take a leave of absence from the Georgetown Hoyas, head coach Patrick Ewing told the media on Friday. Harris steps away from the program to deal with family issues, and a timeline on if he will return to the team is unknown.
The guard came to the Hilltop after two seasons with Arkansas. He’s started five out of the team’s six games as the team’s primary point guard. Harris missed the team’s most recent contest against St. John’s due to back spasms.
The start to Harris’ tenure with the Hoyas has been a mixed bag. He brought stability to the backcourt after losing several key contributors from a season ago, allowing the team’s top returning scorer Jahvon Blair to play in a more off-the-ball/combo guard role. The 6-foot-2 guard leads Georgetown in assists (26) and averages 5.2 assists per game, which is the 60th-best in the country as of this writing.
While the team’s top facilitator, he has struggled mightily with his shot. Only a 25% shooter this season, Harris has taken a backseat as a scorer only taking 28 attempts so far. Taking threes, though, haven’t been an issue with a 75% shooting clip.
Freshman Dante Harris (no relation) started the St. John’s game that Jalen missed. Dante is anticipated to fill that role going forward.
The Hoyas play St. John’s again Sunday, December 20 and Seton Hall on Tuesday for the first stretch of Big East play.