UNLV looking to Elijah Harkless as backcourt leader

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Wednesday, May 25, 2022 | 2 a.m.

Kevin Kruger has a type.

Since taking over as UNLV’s head coach, he has prioritized adding physically mature, tough, defensive-minded players to the roster. Those qualities can most readily be found in the transfer portal, so that’s where Kruger has focused his recruiting efforts, landing several players who fit that mold this offseason.

Elijah Harkless conforms to that archetype. The former Oklahoma guard is physically developed after four years in college, he plays with an aggressive mindset, and he especially gets after it at the defensive end of the court.

As a senior at Oklahoma last season Harkless started 23 games, averaging 10.0 points in 29.0 minutes, and he helped spearhead a Sooners defense that allowed 0.95 points per possession; that ranked them 66^th in the nation, well ahead of UNLV at No. 123 overall (0.98 PPP).

So, what can UNLV expect from Harkless?

Most importantly, he is a standout defender at the point of attack. Oklahoma asked Harkless to line up at the top of the key cover the Big 12’s most dangerous guards off the dribble, and he excelled in that role, consistently making life difficult for opposing ballhandlers.

At 6-foot-3, he is quick and slippery enough to avoid most attempts at screening him. When the opponent sets a ball screen, Harkless is usually able to get around it somehow without ceding his defensive position. And he has wiry strength to keep dribblers from turning the corner.

His on-ball defense really stands out, especially when taking into account the caliber of player he was asked to mark:

You can see him locking up Baylor guard James Akinjo multiple times in that video, and Adam Flagler didn’t have much more success going at Harkless. He knows how to defend, and he embraces the challenge of getting in a stance and guarding his yard.

Once the shot goes up, Harkless is savvy about hitting the boards. He averaged 4.7 rebounds per game at Oklahoma, using a combination of fundamentals (he boxes out) and tenacity (he attacks the carom with two hands) to impact the game in that area. His career defensive rebounding rate is 16.4%; that mark is higher than any UNLV player last year except Royce Hamm (32.1%) and David Muoka (19.2%).

Harkless also has a knack for breaking into transition off a defensive rebound. If he gets the sense that the opponent has too many players clustered under the basket, he’ll rip down the rebound and explode out of the congestion looking for a fast-break advantage.

Now, what happens after that is not always good. Harkless can get a little too exuberant in the open court and attempt risky home-run passes; that’s part of his aggressive attitude. But overall, his ability to turn defensive rebounds into open-court opportunities is impressive:

In one of the games I watched, an upset win over No. 12 Arkansas, Harkless was pulled in the second half of a close contest for trying to force a long pass and committing a turnover. So that’s the downside of his approach. But for a 6-foot-3 player, I bet his rebounding prowess shows up on opposing scouting reports.

Offensively, Harkless operated as a secondary option at Oklahoma while true point guard Jordan Goldwire ran the controls. Still, Harkless’ tough, assertive style applied to that end of the floor as well.

When the ball is in his hands, Harkless is able to create to a certain degree. He has enough speed and strength to put the ball on the floor and get to the rim when he’s driving in a straight line, but when forced to cross over or put together multiple dribble moves, his handle can get loose. There were a lot of instances in the games I watched where he lost control of his dribble, even when there wasn’t much pressure being applied by the defense. His turnover rate of 18.6% would have been the third-worst on UNLV last year, behind only freshman Keshon Gilbert (30.5%) and Hamm (20.4%).

When Harkless has a path to the rim, though, he can get home:

While Harkless does get to the rim a fair amount, he didn’t do a good job of finishing last year, as he converted just 36.1% of his close-range opportunities. Making more of his layup attempts in 2022-23 would go a long way to increasing his efficiency.

Harkless has enough of an eye for passing to keep the defense honest. He’s not a magician with the ball, as evidenced by his 1.7 assists per game, but he can competently run a pick-and-roll and hit the roll man with a pocket pass or a lead pass over the top. And when he drives, he clocks the defense collapsing and can whip the ball out to perimeter shooters from all angles:

The majority of his shots come from beyond the arc. Harkless attempted 3.8 3-pointers per game at Oklahoma, which would have trailed only Bryce Hamilton (7.2) and Jordan McCabe (4.1) on last year’s Scarlet and Gray squad, and he hit them at a respectable but not fear-inducing rate of 32.3%.

Harkless, like most shooters, is more accurate when he has time to set his feet and get his rhythm on catch-and-shoot attempts. When he tries to launch off the dribble over outstretched hands, the results can be way off:

Harkless’ offensive game probably isn’t going to put fans in the seats (or bring them to their feet, either). He does enough things at a respectable level to keep the offense moving, whether it’s driving, shooting or passing; the hope, from Kruger’s perspective, is that a step down in competition from the Big 12 to the Mountain West will allow Harkless to flourish in those areas.

And since he was such a good defender at the power-conference level, he should be able to clean up at that end against MWC competition. The thought of throwing Harkless out there with another dogged backcourt defender like Gilbert (or one of the other incoming transfers) is mostly likely what Kruger envisions for the 2022-23 team.

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.