NICKNAME/S: H

BIO: Hyrum Harris was born in Auckland (NZ) and raised in Hamilton.

A crafty left-hander who can score inside the paint and outside the arc, while also being a force on the defensive end while playing at either forward spot.

FAMILY: Harris is the son of Allies Evans and Reuben Harris.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Hyrum Harris made his NBL debut with the Illawarra Hawks at 23 years of age. He scored two points in his first game.

In September 2019, Harris joined the Illawarra Hawks as a development player. Across 16 games, Harris averaged 2.6 points and 1.3 rebounds across a average of 6.7 minutes per game, with a high of eight points and five rebounds against the Adelaide 36ers. Illawarra would finish the season in ninth place (5-23).

CAIRNS TAIPANS
2020/21
On 2 April 2021, Harris signed with the Cairns Taipans of the Australian NBL as an injury replacement player. He made just the one appearance for the Taipans during the season.

ADELAIDE 36ERS
2021/22
Adelaide started the season by adding Mitch McCarron (via Melbourne), Filipino NBA prospect Kai Sotto and Cairns backup guard duo Tad Dufelmeier, and disgruntled Next Star Mojave King, who fled the Taipans due to feeling his lack of playing time was hurting his NBA chances. Imports Dusty Hannahs and Todd Withers were signed to round out the core roster, and then, in a surprise move, Adelaide chose to release coach Connor Henry despite a year remaining on his contract. CJ Bruton, who had just missed on the Brisbane Bullets head coaching role to James Duncan and was one of the few coaches available at the time, was signed as his replacement and took over the team only weeks before the opening game. With the team almost completed, Bruton added Harris and Cam Bairstow, who, after multiple injury-plagued seasons, drew zero offers from other NBL team’s. Bruton, having worked closely with Bairstow in Brisbane, convinced the big man to come to Adelaide and try to revitalise his career.

29-year-old Mitch McCarron (7.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 1.9 steals) was selected as the new 36ers captain and positioned as the club’s franchise player moving forward. The Sixers came away winless from round one, losing to Perth (85–73) and Illawarra (71–81) before rebounding in round two to record wins against Tasmania (83-80) and New Zealand (98–85), this would see them reach sixth place (2-2) on the ladder, the highest ranking for the season and only round where they did not have a losing record.

Adelaide would lose Isaac Humphries (7.7 points, 4.8 rebounds in 17.7 minutes) to a knee injury that ruled him out for the season the following round, with the former NBA big man managing only six games for the season. Without Humphries, a reinvigorated Bairstow (11.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 1.7 assists) would deliver the best season of his NBL career before also going down to a late-season ankle injury that would ultimately end his NBL career.

With a month remaining in the season and underwhelming seasons from imports Dusty Hannahs (13.5 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.6 assists) and Todd Withers (8.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.2 assists), Adelaide (7-17) had no chance of making the playoffs and managed to close out the season with some kind of success. Adelaide came close to reeling off four consecutive away wins to end the season, only losing a close one to the Phoenix (91-94) and finished the season for the third consecutive year in seventh position (10-18).

Daniel Johnson (16.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 2.1 assists) would lead the 36ers in scoring and collect his second consecutive Mark Davis Award as the club’s Most Valuable Player while bright spots for the team included Hyrum Harris (4.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.1 assists), who was voted as the club’s Most Improved Player and Sunday Dech (12.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.3 assists), who became a solid contributor in his second year at the 36ers.

2022/23
After limping through NBL22, unable to build a cohesive core and injuries decimating the team’s frontcourt, head coach CJ Bruton was optimistic about where he could take the squad with a full offseason’s preparation.

The core group of Mitch McCarron (captain), Anthony Drmic, Daniel Johnson, Sunday Dech, Hyrum Harris, and Kai Sotto would all return. Adelaide spent big during the off-season also, inking proven NBL imports Antonius Cleveland (via Illawarra) and Robert Franks (via Brisbane) to multi-year deals and adding G-League star Craig Randall II (Long Island Nets) for offensive firepower.

Their season began with a historic preseason win over the NBA’s Phoenix Suns (Adelaide became the first overseas team to beat NBA opposition since Turkish side Fenerbahce beat the Nets in 2015) and a strong showing against Oklahoma City a few days later.

Then the wheels fell off.

Adelaide returned to Australia with the 36ers viewed as championship favourites, but instead, they amassed a 3–4 record in their first month.

During this time, Randall II (20.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.0 steals), the team’s leading scorer at the time, had multiple on-court verbal altercations with coach Bruton, and after a negative response to coming off the bench from a game, he was released six games into the season.

Imports Franks (17.7 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.3 assists) and Cleveland (15.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.9 steals) picked up the offensive slack, while Johnson (11.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.1 assists) put in his lowest-scoring campaign in almost a decade, and the side lost six of its final eight games of the season to end their campaign with a whimper to not even make the Play-In.

McCarron (7.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.6 steals) and Drmic (10.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.0 steals) had solid contributions, while NBL Next Star Sotto (6.8 points and 4.5 rebounds) showed glimpses of NBA talent.

Mid-way through the season Adelaide (6-8) brought former King Ian Clark (12.2 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 3.1 assists) in for the final 10 games of the season, hoping he could propel them into the post-season, but ultimately they fell short. At the time of adding Clark, Adelaide was vying for the final two playoff spots with Melbourne, Perth and South East Melbourne, but they ended their season with just two wins from their last eight games.

The win over the Phoenix Suns may have placed what became unrealistic expectations on the 36ers, who, despite possibly the greatest NBL preseason of all time, finished in eighth place (13-18). Harris averaged 3.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 0.7 assists across 27 games.

PERTH WILDCATS
2023/24
After missing the NBL playoffs in 2023, Perth decided to re-tool the roster after losing NBA talent Luke Travers (to Melbourne) aquiring highly coveted free agent Keanu Pinder (via Cairns) and promising rookie Ben Henshall.

Henshall’s signing would culminate with the Wildcats decision to buy out Todd Blanchfield (to Illawarra) and Mitchell Norton (to Brisbane) from their contracts, allowing Perth to bring in some younger talent to boost the squad after two consecutive years of missing the playoffs. 18 year old French tyro Alexandre Sarr was acquired via the Next Star Program, import players Jordan Usher and Kristian Doolittle were added to the roster and David Okwera (via Melbourne), a Perth junior talent, signed to a multi-year deal.

Perth’s season began with a season-opening victory over Tasmania, where Usher (35 points) set RAC Arena alight in his Wildcats debut, scoring the most points ever in a Wildcat debut.

The new look roster struggled after that, however, losing five of their next six games, which culminated in a loss to Brisbane where fans and media began calling for a new head coach.

Perenial league MVP Cotton was also a key factor in the slow start, with a new offence run through guards Tai and Corey Webster, seeing him left routinely in the corners. Cotton’s lack of contact with the ball even resulted in his wife taking to social media and calling for change, something which made national headlines.

The Bullets loss prompted new addition Pinder (13.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.7 steals) to publicly promote that the team would win their next five games. His deep fortune-telling proceeded in the Wildcats, turning their season around.

After a poor showing across the team’s first seven games, Bryce Cotton (22.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.5 steals) broke out of his early-season offensive slump, scoring 29 points in a dominant win over Adelaide on November 4 and from this game onwards, he was the point guard of old.

In December, he dropped a season-high 41 points in a December 1 triumph over Sydney and across an eight-game span from December 15 to January 21, Cotton averaged 30.4 points, including four 30-point games and, in the process, sealed the MVP conversation.

The Wildcats’ success also came from a number of key moves from Rillie, moving Usher (12.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.4 assists) into a sixth-man role and bringing Harris (5.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.4 assists) into the starting line-up. Harris instantly brought a level of competitiveness and defensive intensity to the squad, diving on the hardwood for a loose ball or flying in from the baseline to pluck an offensive rebound.

Despite being only 18, Alexandre Sarr (9.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks) showed great poise for his age, showcasing his potential to be an NBA star. In only his third NBL game, Sarr came through in the final two minutes, nailing two triples against the Adelaide 36ers after Keanu Pinder fouled out and by the end of the season, he had skyrocketed by pre-draft scouting reports and was tipped to be the number two pick in the NBA draft.

Perth’s hot form saw them finish in second place (17-11) and return to the postseason. Cotton claimed his fourth MVP award at the end of the season, surpassing Brisbane Bullets legend Leroy Loggins (three), moving into outright second only behind leader Andrew Gaze (seven).

Perth’s run during the second half of the season ended abruptly however, with a semifinal series loss to eventual champions Tasmania. Harris finished the season averaging 0.4 assists, appearing in 26 games.

Hyrum Harris currently plays for the Perth Wildcats and has played 95 games in his NBL career. He has averaged 4.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1 assists since entering the league in 2019.

CURRENT CONTRACT:

Perth Wildcats – 2 Year Deal (2023-25)

Dan Boyce (798 Posts)

Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.