Bond between Georgia’s Tyree Crump, Jordan Harris culminates in emotional Senior Day
Tyree Crump had his mind made up. He had his heart set on playing college basketball at Florida State, just under 40 minutes from his home of Bainbridge.
Then he got a call from someone even closer to home — his buddy Jordan Harris, who lived less than 20 minutes away in Iron City. Harris’ plans were to play at Georgia, and he wanted his friend to at least take a visit there.
Four years later, the two were set to play their final game on the floor of Stegeman Coliseum on Wednesday night. Their journey to this point has had just as many twists as the road that brought them both to Athens in the first place.
“He’s been through a lot of adversity; I’ve always been there for him,” Crump said. “Tables turn, I’ve been through a lot of adversity and he’s been there for me. That’s what family does.”
The pair had always wanted to play together, but Crump said a fierce rivalry between Iron City and Bainbridge prevented that. Similar dreams of being a recruiting package deal looked to be nothing but talk, with Harris going to Georgia and Crump leaning toward FSU.
But then Crump visited Athens. He fell in love with the school and program, realizing that the University of Georgia was where he wanted to spend his college career. A call was immediately placed to Harris, who wasn’t at all surprised.
“I told you, I told you,” Crump said of Harris’ reaction when he heard that his friend would be joining him in Athens.
The two committed to Georgia on the same day, Sept. 9, 2014. But without Harris and his support, Crump might not have been in a position to play college basketball in the first place.
Lean on me
Crump’s father died before he was born, and his mother battled lupus for years leading up to his graduation from Bainbridge High School.
Crump admitted to struggling with depression throughout his youth. When he was feeling down, he always had a friend to call.
“If I was feeling down and depressed, I would call Jordan and we would just talk on the phone a lot, or I’d just go to his house and we would just play basketball all day or go to the mall,” Crump said. “He always made sure I was good.”
That bond hasn’t weakened at all over four years at Georgia. Although they’re not roommates, Crump said they’re together enough to where they might be mistaken for living together.
Just because they’re in Athens, however, doesn’t mean everything has always been smooth sailing.
For Crump, his playing time has fluctuated throughout his career. Known as a gunner who has never seen a shot he didn’t like, his style often clashed with the more methodical offensive pace employed by former coach Mark Fox.
Under new coach Tom Crean, Crump has been more free to play his style of game. But in his collegiate swan song, he has struggled with his 3-point shot for most of the season.
Harris’ issues have been more disciplinary. He missed the second half of SEC play in 2017-18 due to an indefinite suspension from Fox, although the reason why was never given. This season he was deemed ineligible for the first nine games of the year.
“I’ve been through a lot,” Harris said. “It could have been a lot of ifs, ands or buts, but I’m here.”
Building up to Senior Night
All the adversity has brought them to this point. Now, in their final games in red and black, Crump and Harris are making the most of it.
Harris has started the last 10 games, averaging 5.8 points and 4.8 rebounds in that stretch. He has also been a whirlwind presence on defense, sixth on the team with 96 deflections in nine fewer games than his teammates.
“He is all over the floor, whether it’s defense, whether it’s offense, getting big assignments, those type of things,” Crean said.
Crump, meanwhile, has found his stroke from behind the arc. He is shooting 45 percent from distance since a scoreless outing against Florida on Feb. 5, with the highlight being a buzzer-beating triple in an 80-78 win over Vanderbilt on Feb. 22.
Their head coach said Crump and Harris bring a mindset of improvement to practice each day, a particularly valuable skill set to have in a senior. One of Crean’s sayings really hit home this year, Harris said.
“If you sit around and take a day off, you’re getting worse,” Harris said. “But if you take advantage of that day and get better, you’re getting better. It’s either one or the other, there ain’t no in between. The world is full of average people, and he lets us know that all the time.”
Their careers will likely end without an NCAA tournament appearance, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t left their mark. On a team with nine freshmen, both said they’ve worked tirelessly to be leaders this season, with Harris’ laid-back approach balancing Crump’s energy and enthusiasm on the court.
Now, just a handful of games remain before Crump and Harris bid farewell to Athens. Harris’ entire immediate family was making the four-and-a-half hour drive up from Iron City for senior night against Florida on Wednesday. Crump, ever the emotional one, said he’s going to “cry like a baby.”
The pair will talk after the season, with their future being one of numerous topics. Crump says they both want to continue their playing careers.
But whether or not their basketball roads extend beyond Athens, their lives will be forever connected with an unbreakable bond that dates back to their days in southwest Georgia.
“Our relationship, nobody knows,” Crump said. “It just can’t be described. I don’t have to talk to him for a year, he can call me, he can get anything he wants. That’s just the relationship we have. That’s my brother.”
How to watch Florida vs. Georgia basketball game
Who: Georgia (15-14, 5-11 SEC) vs. Florida (18-11, 10-6 SEC)
Where: Stegeman Coliseum in Athens
When: 7 pm Wednesday
What TV channel: ESPN
This story was originally published March 4, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Bond between Georgia’s Tyree Crump, Jordan Harris culminates in emotional Senior Day."