University of Tennessee men’s basketball newcomer Juke Harris is a member of the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Top 20 Preseason Watch List, as revealed Wednesday afternoon by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
A junior guard out of Salisbury, N.C., Harris was a Second Team All-ACC selection last year at Wake Forest. He also won ACC Most Improved Player after a 15.3-point scoring increase from 2024-25, the top mark in the nation.
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The annual Julius Erving Award, named after the Class of 1993 Hall of Famer and 17-year professional basketball player, celebrates its 13th year by recognizing the top small forwards in Division I men’s college basketball.Harris is one of four SEC players who made the list, alongside Alabama’s Amari Allen, Florida’s Thomas Haugh and Kentucky’s Milan Momcilovic.
A 6-foot-7, 205-pounder, Harris was a Preseason First Team All-SEC honoree by the media, as well as a Blue Ribbon Yearbook Preseason Third Team All-American.
Harris averaged 21.4 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 steals in 35.1 minutes per game last season. He shot 44.4 percent from the field and 78.3 percent at the line.In addition to ranking sixth nationally in total points with 750, Harris was one of four players to average at least 21.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. The others were Duke’s Cameron Boozer, BYU’s A.J. Dybantsa and Texas Tech’s J.T. Toppin.
Fan voting for the Julius Erving Award begins Oct. 30 at hoophallawards.com. Additional information on the Naismith Starting 5—there is one honoree for each position—can be found at the same link.
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The Julius Erving Award Midseason Top 10 List will be announced in February, with five finalists named in March and the winner revealed after review from the selection committee.
Last season, Tennessee freshman forward Nate Ament was among the five finalists for the Julius Erving Award. In 2023-24, fifth-year guard Dalton Knecht won the trophy. In between, in 2024-25, fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier claimed the Jerry West Award and senior guard Zakai Zeigler was a Bob Cousy Award finalist.
Harris and the Volunteers begin the 2026-27 regular season Nov. 3 at 6 p.m., when they welcome Wofford to Food City Center, live on SEC Network.
