Akia Harris (23) has announced that she is leaving GPS and will play her senior season for Hamilton Heights in 2015-2016. Harris, shown above in a contest from last season against Baylor, is ranked among the Top 10 of Tennessee girls high school basketball players and has eclipsed the 1,000 point mark.
photo by File/Dennis Norwood
All-state point guard Akia Harris is leaving Girls Preparatory School and transferring to Hamilton Heights for her senior basketball season.
Harris averaged 19.5 points, 5.5 assists, and four rebounds per game during the 2014-15 season. The three-year starter for the Bruisers scored her 1000th career point in February this past season.
GPS coach Jennifer Williams recently resigned after two seasons with the Bruisers to devote more time to her duties in admissions and was replaced by former Notre Dame coach Wes Moore.
Harris is currently ranked in the Tennessee Top 10 by the Rick Bolus Tennessee Scouting report. She was selected TSSAA Division II-AA All-Region and All-State her freshman, sophomore and junior years.
She currently holds NCAA Division 1 offers from Coastal Carolina and Stoney Brook, and has garnered strong interest from many other schools such as North Carolina State, Mercer, Vanderbilt, Arkansas-Little Rock, Belmont, Florida Atlantic, Furman, Tennessee-Chattanooga and Samford.
Hamilton Heights Headmaster, Duke Stone, commenting on Harris’ transfer said, “We are extremely excited to have Akia join the Hamilton Heights family. Not only is she a talented basketball player, but she is also an outstanding young lady. She will obviously help our talented girls’ program become even better, as well as add to our campus life.
“We believe she will fit into our school’s mission spiritually, socially, academically, and athletically. We have had many college coaches already contact us about Akia joining our program, and the consensus from their perspective is that she is a quality young lady on and off the court.”
Harris has played on the grass-roots circuit for Team Elite (Atlanta, Ga.), currently plays for TN Xtreme here in Chattanooga and helped lead her AAU teams to tremendous success including the YBOA National Championship in 2010 (TN Xtreme), the 2011 AAU 12-and-under National Champion Runner-ups and 2012 13-andunder National Champions (Team Elite), the AAU 2013 and 2014 Disney Showcase National Champions (Team Elite), and the 2014 Nike Top Junior Division Champions (Team Elite).
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)