Los Angeles Clippers: Montrezl Harrell defying odds in unprecedented rise
By Aymin Bakr
Louisville standout
Starting on a Division I basketball team is the norm for most players across the league. For most guys, high school and college success are a given and this usually gives a pretty good indication of the talent a certain player possesses. In this sense, Montrezl Harrell wasn’t very different, but he did take a slightly different path.
From Tarboro, North Carolina, Harrell attended North Edgecombe High School and showed some flashes of noteworthy play his Junior year (16.0 points, 12.0 rebounds and 6.7 blocks per game) but would spend his last year of high school elsewhere.
He would spend his senior year at Hargrave Military Academy and finally burst onto the basketball scene during this time. During the 2011-12 season, the team boasted an extremely impressive 38-1 record while Harrell averaged 25.2 points and 13.8 rebounds per contest.
Initially choosing to play at Virginia Tech, he decided to ask for a release from his commitment when then coach Seth Greenberg was fired. As a result, Harrell committed to the University of Louisville and would spend the next three seasons there.
As a freshman, Harrell played 16.2 minutes per contest for the team that would eventually go on to win the national title that year, signifying his impact on the floor was something special. After his freshman year, he earned the trust of coach Rick Pitino and started his next two seasons in college before declaring for the NBA Draft.
Throughout his last two seasons (2013-15), he averaged 14.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 32.2 minutes per contest while shooting 58.8 percent from the field. However, despite playing at an impressive level and helping to lead the Cardinals to a combined 58-15 record during his sophomore and junior years Harrell’s draft stock was not very high when entering.
He was projected to be an above-average defender and athlete, but there were some considerable question marks about his slight frame for a big man, his ability to score at the NBA level and his age. As a result, he fell to the second round, thus presenting him with some odds to overcome.