When the Milwaukee Bucks come in to battle the Brooklyn Nets on Feb. 19, they will try to showcase a New York native in Tobias Harris, who came out of Hill West High School in Dix Hills, New York. And Harris hails from a basketball family, with one member still in high school.
Tobias’ father Terell Sr. still follows the sport even though he is not active as much on the court. Tobias has three brothers-Terrel, Jr. who is 28 years of age, Terry, who is a junior at Hills West school, and Tyler, a sophomore transfer who is at Providence.
Their cousin is Channing Frye, who is still playing in the National Basketball Association after a two-year stint with the New York Knicks, also in the same league.
After spending one year at the University of Tennessee, Harris felt that he was ready for the NBA. And ‘somebody’ told him that he was indeed ready for the next level. So he entered the draft.
Recently, the 6’8” forward is on a deep Milwaukee team that is in the same Eastern Conference with the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Knicks, and is fighting to make the playoffs.
Through games played at the end of January, Tobias started 14 of 27 contests in this, his second year in the NBA. When he came ‘home’ to battle the Knicks, Harris saw action for one minute and three seconds.
Last year marked his first one in the National Basketball Association.
“I got my feet wet, learned the NBA game, and got better (while getting in 42 games),” he said after the Milwaukee-Knicks game. “I worked on being patient and learned that there are a lot of great players in the league.
“During the off season, I went home and worked out with my trainers in Long Island,” he said. “I came out this year with the (thought of) getting a better start.”
And coming in to play at Madison Square Garden he felt just tremendous. “I love New York,” he added.
Tobias has been playing a lot of games and is getting better as a player.
“We are looking to him as a future,” said Head Coach Jim Boylan. “Right now simply because of the numbers game, he is not getting enough playing time to make a difference for us. We look to him for (his contributions) next year, and going down the road he’ll help us a lot.”
Remember, he is young and felt that he was at the top of his game after spending a short time in college.
