Ex-'Cat thrives as pro in Germany

Nuremberg, Germany – A shy grin slowly spreads across Jaivon Harris' face when you ask him about first arriving in Germany to play professional basketball from Ohio University nearly eight years ago.

Roughly 4,300 miles away from home in Alliance, Ohio, Harris had no choice but to grow up fast after landing at an international airport outside the northeastern industrial city of Chemnitz, Germany.

"That year was the toughest year. I didn't Google anything, I didn't look up where I was going, and when I got here I didn't even know how to use the payphone," said Harris, who started his career with the Pro-A second division Chemnitz 99 during the 2004-05 season.

"I was basically waiting at the airport for someone to pick me up and had no contact with anyone. That was extremely hard."

Three basketball teams and eight seasons later, life is as smooth as Harris' left-handed jumper. Now a seasoned veteran, the 6-foot-5 guard and former All Mid American Conference honorable mention comfortably calls Nuremberg, Germany home as one of the top scorers in the Pro-A second division — a 15-team league also known as the "AG 2, Bundesliga."

TUCKED AWAY IN NORTHWEST Nuremberg, a small vocational school gym in the Berliner Platz is home to the Nuremberg Basketball Club (NBC). The 1,200 fans who spent the past two hours blowing noise-makers and banging bass drums left disappointed after a heartbreaking 103-100 overtime loss to league rival Dusseldorf.

Harris, 29, sits on a brown folding chair in the near empty gym, thoughtfully recalling how far he's come in Germany and where he wants to go.

"I'm really comfortable over here, and that's why I've stayed here my whole career," he muses. "I'm kind of odd in that I like to stay in one place for a long time. Usually, guys play a year for one team and then move on."

Undrafted out of Ohio University in 2004, Harris signed with BV Chemnitz 99 and averaged 17.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game his rookie season before jumping to BBC Bayreuth after three years. It was with Bayreuth where Harris blossomed into MVP of the second division in 2009-10, an honor that contributed to Bayreuth advancing from the Pro A second division to the 18-team Beko BBL, Germany's premiere first division basketball league.

"In Bayreuth I was part of building a team up and watching it grow," he says. "That experience was an awesome time, and I really cherish that and know I will cherish it later in life," he added about his four years with the team.

That's also where Harris formed a bond with current Nuremberg head coach Derrick Taylor.

Taylor – who reached the NCAA Final Four in 1986 as a guard at LSU – has spent the past 14 years overseas both as a player and coach. He remembers going up against Harris at Chemnitz and enjoyed coming to know the youngster once Taylor became his head coach at Bayreuth.

"He's one of the most professional people, not just basketball players, that I know," Taylor said of Harris.

"He comes to work everyday and takes no days off. He's a positive influence for our younger guys," Taylor says. "Jaivon is invaluable to us and is a leader on and off the court. He's been through it — everything from first league to second league. We're lucky to have a person of that caliber packaged as a basketball player."

When Taylor accepted the head coaching position with Nuremberg (NBC) in 2009, it was only a matter of time before he'd be reunited with Harris, who signed with the team last July.

Taylor wouldn't have it any other way.

"To be honest, it was key for me to bring him here because I knew that he is really good for our situation. He makes my job easier. We are going to grow and be a much better team because of Jaivon."

Harris is one of four American import players on Nuremberg's 13-man roster, which includes Will Chavis (Texas Tech), Ike Okoye (Boise State) and Cory Abercrombie (Pittsburg State, Kansas) and is rounded off by 10 German national players who compete from late October through February. Harris — who graduated with a degree in exercise physiology and three years ago received a master's degree in communication systems — is also one of eight former OU players who play professionally around Germany.

Against Dusseldorf, Harris was opposed by former Bobcats forward Patrick Flomo (Ohio '02), and while Flomo's team got the win, Harris led all scorers with 27 points, six rebounds and three assists, and knocked down five three-pointers.

In 16 games this season Harris is averaging 16.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game for NBC, which sits at 8-8.

"I'm not a numbers guy. Whatever it takes to win, I'm big into that," Harris admits.

"I pride myself on being able to do a lot of things with the basketball and working on all aspects of the game," he continues. "A lot of guys come over here and see this league as a steppingstone because it's the second league. Guys want to be in the first league so they feel pressured to put up big numbers, but people don't understand that if you win and take care of your teammates, you can make it there and people will see you playing the right way.

"You have to work at it and stay positive. You can get on some teams where guys really don't care about the team. They really just care about themselves. Everyone is raised different, and I was raised to care for people and the people around you."

Asked what he's learned the most about himself these last eight seasons in Deutschland, Harris doesn't hesitate.

"I've learned that I like to travel," he says, before confessing that his German is better than everyone thinks.

From Prague in the Czech Republic to Salzburg, Austria, and quaint cities around Germany, Cairo, Egypt remains the most "eye-opening experience" for Harris, who openly embraces the worldly culture Europe offers and his surroundings in Germany.

Still, home is where the heart is.

"That's really tough to be away from friends and family. But with Skype or Facebook and iPhone, it's easy to stay in contact with family members and best friends," says Harris, who typically returns to Ohio once a year for a month before going back to Germany.

"When I first got over here, that wasn't the case," he says.

Harris has come a long way since not knowing how to work a payphone in Germany and being a stranger in a strange land. Each year has taught him life lessons in and away from the game — a game Harris hopes he can keep growing in Nuremberg.

"I've always said that as long as I'm enjoying basketball and can continue to play at a level I see myself playing, then Nuremberg is an awesome city. There's no question that I would love to be back here," he says. "The goal is to grow."