By Will Vandervort.

By Will Vandervort

CLEMSON — Three months ago, Damarcus Harrison was building transformers for Eaton Electrical in Greenwood, S.C. Now, just three days before the Tigers start practice in preparation for the 2012-’13 basketball season, he was on the Littlejohn Coliseum floor taking team pictures with the Clemson team.

“There were a lot of ups and downs,” Harrison told the media Tuesday. “I was working. I was working a full-time job and I did not know if I was going to get into school. It was pretty tough.”

Six months ago, Harrison thought he had it all planned out. During Brigham Young’s run in the NCAA Tournament last year, the shooting guard, who was a freshman at the time, let his coaches know he planned on going on a two-year mission. A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Harrison felt it was time for him to go on his mission trip. It is customary for BYU students to take a two-year hiatus from their studies at some point to serve as Mormon missionaries.

“During that time period, I went through all of my interviews and when the season ended, I went home so I could finish up the paperwork, and that’s when I found out the mission had been delayed until next year,” Harrison said.

At first, the 6-foot-4, 195-pound guard was okay with the delay. The State President of the Church felt it would be best if Harrison waited another year before going on his mission. Harrison figured he would just go back to BYU and pick up where he left off and then go do his mission work next summer.

Well, it was not that easy. When he tried to go back to BYU, he found his scholarship had been offered to someone else.

“They rotate their scholarships, and they already rotated mine and gave it to someone else,” he said. “I tried to go back, but I couldn’t so Clemson offered me a full ride so here I am.”

But getting on board at Clemson was not easy either. First of all, he had to be released from BYU, which was no problem, and then he had to convince Clemson head coach Brad Brownell why it would be a good move to put him on scholarship when he turned down the Tigers’ offer and went to BYU?

He also had to tell Brownell he still planned to go on his mission trip in the summer and would be away from the program for two years.

“He was okay with it,” Harrison said. “We had a relationship before that I built up when he was recruiting me. So he knew about me, my religion and my family. He was comfortable with it. He knows what kind of family I come from and he knows I’m a good kid.”

Brownell also knows he now has another good guard, and feels Harrison can contribute for the Tigers this season, something they will need after losing Tanner Smith and Andre Young to graduation. Harrison played in 30 games as a freshman last year, averaging 3.2 points. But as the season went along and he adjusted to the college game, the Greenwood, SC native became more of score and shooter for the Cougars.

He scored  12 points in a win over Iona in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season on 4 of 6 shooting, including 2 of 4 from three-point range.

“I think I can bring some athleticism and scoring,” he said. “I also like to play defense. I think I can do a lot of things. I’m very versatile. I can be that pick me up if they need or a spark when they need it. I will do whatever they need me to do.”

Though he is just a sophomore, Harrison’s experience is something else he brings to the table for the Tigers. Clemson is a team which has only two seniors and no juniors so any of the seven sophomores that can pick up the slack whether it is scoring, rebounding or passing the ball will be a plus. It also doesn’t hurt that Harrison played in two NCAA Tournament games and knows what that feels like and what it takes to get back there.

Senior forward Milton Jennings says Harrison has already stepped up as a leader by the way he acted and worked through the whole ordeal as he waited to see if the NCAA and the ACC was going to grant him the right to play basketball this season due to the events that forced him to transfer to Clemson.

“I’m real excited about Damarcus. He really worked hard,” Jennings said. “He did not know if he was going to play for us or not, but he was conditioning with us and really taking it serious. It was not lollygagging like some kids would do if they did not know if they were going to play or not.

“He worked really hard and he is back in shape and stuff. He is looking really good and is starting to get his jumper back and what not. I think he will be a big help to our team this year.”

Once he got accepted into Clemson, Harrison was excited about getting back to work. He had already fallen into the 9 to 5 working man’s trap when he was making transformers for Eaton Electric.

“It was pretty crazy,” he said. “I thought I was going to be working that job for a whole year. Being out of shape for those three or four months, it took a toll on my body. I felt like I was living the old-man life style, already. I was working the 9 to 5, getting up in the morning, going to work and then coming back home and sitting on the couch and going to sleep. I was doing the same thing every day.

“It was pretty stressful.”

But in the end, it all worked out and now he is just a few weeks away from helping Clemson open the season against Presbyterian on Nov. 12 at Littlejohn Coliseum.

“It is very exciting to know I get to come out this year and help the team,” Harrison said. “I’m ready to get it started now.”