MORGANTOWN – The name comes from Nas, the game is still in development.

But for WVU sophomore guard Sencire Harris, who is not without stories, all points appear to be on the up.

“I think this is a new beginning,” said Harris, a transfer from Illinois. “I may stay here for the rest of my college career. I think this is a better opportunity for me to be out there more.”

The most popular question asked of the Canton, Ohio native is about his high school.

He led St. Vincent-St. Mary won back-to-back Ohio Division II state championships in his junior and senior years, but the school is apparently better known for being the high school Lebron James once attended.

“I met him a lot,” said Harris, a top-100 recruit and four-star prospect out of high school. “People are always asking, 'Do you know LeBron?' I try not to say too much, but I met him a lot.”

The first name, Harris explains, comes from the 1998 film “Belly,” in which rapper Nas plays a character named Sincere, a New York drug dealer who eventually tries to give his family a better life by taking them to Africa relocated.

In Harris' case, the name can be a double-edged sword.

“Yeah, everyone always thinks I’m nice,” he said. “I’m nice off the pitch. Sometimes I can let myself get carried away (on the court) so that my competitive drive gets the better of me.”

That competitive drive was put on hold a year ago by his own decision.

As a true freshman, Harris played 33 games for the Illini. A year later, Illinois was full of returners and made it to the Elite Eight as a No. 3 seed.

Harris decided to sit out this season as a redshirt with the idea of ​​using that time to develop more of an all-around game.

“I think I came out to improve,” Harris said. “Going into my freshman year, I was more of a defensive guy. I thought to myself, I wanted to be more.

“I took the time to expand and develop my game to have more confidence in my game.”

That confidence appears to have Harris in a starting position ahead of WVU's season opener against Robert Morris on Monday. It will be his first college game since March 16, 2023.

He was the Mountaineers' starting shooting guard in the team's exhibition game against Charleston, scoring nine points on 2 of 4 shooting in 16 minutes.

The difference is that Harris came from a program that was just in the Elite Eight and then moved to a program with a new head coach and 12 new scholarship players.

Such a situation may have raised a dozen red flags for players looking for another school, but not for Harris.

“I saw it as an opportunity to improve,” he said. “I watched it because some of these guys have never played (in the NCAA tournament). Some of these guys are in their senior year and that’s what I want them to experience the most.”

note

WVU head coach Darian DeVries said Friday that the Mountaineers will be without the services of guard Jayden Stone to start the season. DeVries called it “an upper body injury” that occurred during a recent practice. Stone is a transfer from Detroit Mercy, where he averaged 20.8 points per game last season.