If you followed Purdue’s social media team during the summer, you may have noticed that Gicarri Harris has a new look. Nobody is referring to him as the Caped Crusader, but he is sporting a Batman-like mask during practices.
“I was in Miami playing with Michael Beasley and a couple of other players,” Harris said when asked about the mask. “I got elbowed bad.”
The mask is only a temporary change for Harris. He’ll have to wear it during Purdue’s four-game trip through Canada, but will be able to move forward without it after August. But there’s another face the junior guard is wearing right now, one that will be a little more permanent.
Entering his third season with the program, Harris is stepping into a leadership role at Purdue. He’s made the jump from underclassman to veteran, a role he’s embracing this offseason.
“I don’t really think of leadership as being challenging; I feel like it’s something you have to do,” Harris said. “I don’t try to look at it as a challenge; I feel like it’s a privilege. We have the privilege to be here and be one of the older guys and know everything that we do and help the younger guys out.”
Harris has played a key role for the Boilermakers off the bench in his first two seasons. This year, he’s challenging for one of the open starting jobs as Purdue turns the page to the next chapter after the departures of Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer and Trey Kaufman-Renn.
The next three months will help determine whether or not Harris will be one of Purdue’s starters for the 2026-27 season. Regardless of his role, though, he understands the importance of his role as a leader.
“Whether I’m playing good or bad, I have to be even-keeled, never too high, never too low,” he said. “I have to make sure all the other guys are doing the same thing.”
Harris has welcomed his new role as a face of the program. As for the Batman-like mask, though?
“I’m ready to take it off,” he said, smiling. “I’m tired of wearing it.”
Harris is coming off a sophomore campaign in which he averaged 4.6 points and 1.6 rebounds per game. He shot 40.1% from the floor and 35.5% from behind the three-point line. What was particularly interesting, though, was how he played away from Mackey Arena.
In road games last year, Harris averaged 5.7 points per contest and shot better than 40% from behind the three-point line. He provided the necessary spark teams need in those environments.
But one of the areas where Harris needs to improve is producing more consistently. That’s just one of the things the junior guard is working on this summer.
“I mean, there are a lot of areas,” Harris said about areas of improvement. “First, I’d say defense. Just being a better defender. I feel like I’ve been doing a really good job of that. Offensively, shooting the ball. This year, I’ve been doing a better job of coming off of actions, being more of a threat to score.
“It’s a lot of things, but I’m always trying to take it one step at a time, trying to get better every single day.”
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