Ryan Harrow ready for pressure at Georgia State

“I told them that as long as we worry about us and how we are getting better and maturing, everything will handle itself,” he said.

So the pressure that Georgia State may feel is nothing new. Harrow knows because he has been through the crucible that is basketball in the Bluegrass State. One of his last games for Kentucky, a loss to Vanderbilt in the SEC tournament, may have cost the Wildcats a slim shot at making the NCAA tournament. It left Harrow sitting in his locker crying because he blamed himself for the defeat after missing 13 of his 15 shots.

Never mind that the team was a preseason pick to win the national championship, only to have the season derailed by injuries and a lack of chemistry. None of those reasons mattered. Harrow was blamed by some of the fans for not only the loss to the Commodores, but the season.

He transferred from Lexington to return home to Atlanta mostly to be closer to his dad, who is sick. But Georgia State coach Ron Hunter said the expectations at Kentucky also became too much for Harrow’s slender shoulders.

So, being picked simply to make it to the NCAA tournament is a lighter load that Harrow can easily handle as the Panthers’ point guard.

“He’s been through it,” Hunter said. “He’s been through it more than the coaches have. He had such high expectations at that place, the expectations we have now he thinks are kind of funny. He likes it. He says, ‘This is nothing compared to what I just went through.’

“The kid is relaxed and having fun. He looks like the kid from Walton (High) who was an All-American.”

Harrow sounds relaxed and seems like he is having fun again. He spends Sunday afternoons with his father watching movies. He gets recognized on campus, which he said surprised him because Georgia State is still establishing itself in basketball.

Hunter said Harrow doesn’t say things like, “At Kentucky, we did it this way.” Instead, he takes coaching and tries to involve his teammates. Hunter said he even tested Harrow earlier this week by kicking him out of practice. Harrow didn’t flinch, returned and performed well.

“It’s working out really well right now,” said Devonta White, who will share the backcourt with Harrow similarly to how he and James Fields worked in 2011.

And Harrow also shares with his teammates how to handle the pressure of being tabbed as a team to beat.

Hunter said Georgia State was a good team before Harrow arrived because, in Hunter’s third season, the team returns several veterans who are comfortable in Hunter’s preferred up-tempo systems on offense and defense.

The Panthers, who went 15-16 last season, return four starters in White, R.J. Hunter, Manny Atkins and Rashaad Richardson, who may move to the sixth man. They also return key bench player Markus Crider. Lastly, the team returns three centers/power forwards, as well as Curtis Washington, who sat out last season because of NCAA transfer rules and is battling Denny Burguillos for the starting spot.

“We are really talented, and everyone has a bull’s eye,” Harrow said. “But everybody has been working hard. It really surprised me because it’s a different level (than Kentucky). But if these guys help me and I’ll help them, we should be really good this year.”