Between last season and this one, junior forward Isaac Harrell “had to grow up.”

“This offseason really forced me to become a leader for this program,” Harrell said. “I think with everyone leaving, it made me become like a different person, as in, I had to grow up.”

With the nine transfers that left Schar Center last year, Harrell and four others were the only returning players. Harrell is the only returning player who spent time in the starting lineup last year.

“It was definitely a hard time when everyone left, just because those become your best friends,” Harrell said. “But I figured that staying was best for me because I love the coaching staff.”

Harrell said for him, the relationships he has built here at Elon are more important than entering the transfer portal. He said when he committed to Elon, it was not mainly for basketball. It was because the coaches cared about him regardless of how many times he scored points for the Phoenix. 

“It was because the coaches saw me as somebody more than a basketball player,” Harrell said. 

Harrell also said Elon had just felt like the right place for him. He loved the community, the staff and even his classes. 

With that, Harrell is ready to make shots and become a real presence on the court. As a sophomore he averaged 4 rebounds and 39.4% three-point percentage beyond the arc. One of his most notable career highlights is his game winning tip-in his freshman year in a game against University of North Carolina, Wilmington.

But Harrell said that his original plan and first “true love” was actually tennis. 

“I ended up getting really tall, and basketball took over,” Harrell said. 

Harrell’s older brother started playing ball and he looked up to him. So at the age of 12, he quit tennis and Harrell said he fell in love with the game. And he’s been in love ever since. 

“I feel like this year, something that worked in the offseason is just becoming more confident, as in myself, and knowing that I can be a presence offensively,” Harrell said. 

Head coach Billy Taylor said he wants to continue to see Harrell shoot the ball with consistency, but also to just see him continue to grow as a leader. 

“He’s really teaching, again, our values and what’s important to us as a program,” Taylor said. 

But what really stuck out to Taylor was his winning attitude, character and plays. Since high school, Taylor said Harrell came from a winning culture. He won multiple state championships in his home state of Arkansas. 

“He’s got, obviously, a great smile, great personality, great energy, which was just something that’s really important to our program,” Taylor said.

With his attitude for victory also comes his ability to make winning plays. Going into this new season, Taylor said one of the goals he has for Harrell is to continue honing in on making winning plays, which is something that Taylor said doesn’t show up on the statistics sheet. 

“It may be something as simple as running as hard as he can, sprinting the floor, which then opens up the opportunity for someone to get a rim run and a layup, because he shoots the ball so well,” Taylor said. 

Taylor said that Harrell is also an effective cutter. In basketball, a cutter is someone who is able to make themselves open for a possible pass or score, which for Harrell, gives him the opportunity to make winning plays.