It was only an October moment, but a promising one.
Georgia State’s Ryan Harrow blew by his man with a stutter-step followed by a cross-over dribble to his left hand. He switched the ball back to his right and held it in the air for a split-second before flipping it into the corner. Manny Atkins caught it chest-high and sunk a 3-pointer against Shorter on Monday at the Sports Arena in the first exhibition game of the season.
It was exactly the type of play that many expected to see when Harrow, who played at Walton High, was cleared by the NCAA to play for the Panthers this year after transferring from Kentucky.
Harrow finished with 17 points, six rebounds and five assists to lead Georgia State past Shorter, 90-60. Harrow’s mother, father, best friend and others came to watch.
“It was nice to be back home,” Harrow said.
Though he didn’t finish with the most solid shooting percentage (6-of-15), Harrow kept firing in the second half as he appeared to grow more comfortable, scoring four of his team’s first six points. And he was not all about offense. After R.J. Hunter was called for a defensive foul, Harrow hustled over to show Hunter what the officials whistled him for.
“We’ve been talking about leadership here for a couple of years now,” coach Ron Hunter said. “Ryan’s been through a lot. That’s going to help a guy like R.J. out a lot. It’s going to settle him down. He respects Ryan.”
Harrow added a steal and layup to give the Panthers a 54-38 lead. Georgia State then used a 22-4 run, which included eight consecutive points from Hunter, to put away the game.
Harrow wasn’t the only player making a new start who looked good. Curtis Washington, who sat out last year after transferring from Southern Cal, and T.J. Shipes, a sophomore who saw limited action last year, dominated the smaller Shorter players inside.
Washington, a 6-foot-9 forward, scored 12 points, grabbed six rebounds and had eight blocks. It was his first action in more than two years after a shoulder injury sidelined him in 2011.
“It felt really good,” he said. “I haven’t been on the court in a long time. After I got comfortable in the first half, we were just flowing. It’s easy when you get in and are surrounded by snipers.”
Shipes, a 6-7 forward who averaged only 5.4 minutes per game last season, added 11 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. Georgia State limited Shorter to 29.9 percent shooting. After being outrebounded 20-10 midway through the first half, the Panthers finished with a 53-39 advantage.
“I give a lot of credit to (assistant coach) Everick Sullivan,” Hunter said. “He spent a lot of time over the summer working with the bigs.”
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