UPDATED: NWF State College women's hoops gets big transfer

 By ADAM PRUIETT

adamp@nwfdailynews.com

NICEVILLE - When Bart Walker arrived at Northwest Florida State College, he didn't shy away from announcing ambitious goals, stating that he wanted to build the women's basketball team into one of the nation's finest junior college programs.

Getting arguably the best player in the Panhandle Conference is a good start toward achieving that goal.

Shamar Harris, the reigning conference Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, has transferred to NWF State College from Tallahassee Community College. The school received the 5-foot-10 guard's letter of intent Tuesday night.

"I like the way they run the program," said Harris, who researched Walker and has known assistant coach Vernette Skeete for several years.

Walker, entering his first year at the helm of NWF State College (formerly Okaloosa-Walton College), said the recruiting process is always exhausting, so when a player of Harris' caliber arrives out of the blue it's definitely a morale booster.

"That phone call kind of gave us a jolt in the arm," he said.

Walker said Harris won't be eligible to play this season until the spring semester, meaning that she would miss NWF State College's preconference games but arrive in time for Panhandle action. He said Harris also has the option of redshirting this season, which would allow her a full season of eligibility the following year.

Walker said if Harris is on pace to graduate at the end of this coming school year, she would likely play for the Raiders this season. For that to happen, he said "she's going to have to take a lot of (class) hours and be really focused."

Harris led Tallahassee last season to a second-place finish in the conference and a state tournament berth. The second-team All-American averaged 16.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.9 steals.

She declined to discuss details about why she decided to transfer out of Tallahassee.

As far as joining the Raiders, Harris said she's "the type of player that wanted to be exposed all around" and that NWF State College will offer that exposure.

Harris said she needs to make her classwork a top priority at NWF State College.

"I've got to balance everything out as far as basketball and grades go," she said.

Harris said she's got a lot to prove at NWF State College. Although she didn't elaborate, Harris said she's "messed up" and "made mistakes" and believes there's a lot of skeptics who don't believe she'll succeed.

"I'm still going to do what I've got to do to get where I need to be," she said emphatically.