HERTZEL: WVU's Jordan Harrison does not come up short on the court

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MORGANTOWN -- The other day, upon entering the West Virginia women's basketball facility, the eye was quickly drawn to Jordan Harrison, but not for the reason you may expect.

True, she is expected to reach superstar status as she operates this season in the void left by JJ Quinerly's graduation and successful advance into the WNBA, which would certainly qualify her to be the center of attention.

But, instead, as you stood there at floor level and images of her play both on the offensive end as point guard and defensive end ran through your mind you realized just how amazing her accomplishments are, reaching heights on the basketball court that far exceed any measure of her physical height.

The thought was only exaggerated when she entered an interview session this week with her hair balled up high atop her head, forcing one with a sense of humor to suggest that she wore it that way to create an image of a taller player.

After all, there was much talk that Quinerly's height was exaggerated by a couple of inches when she played at WVU and clearly she was taller than Harrison.

Does Harrison fudge a couple of inches herself being listed at 5-6?

She laughs when the subject is raised that maybe she is adding a couple of inches herself.

"No, I think I've only got one inch added," she said in her distinctive, high-pitched voice.

In basketball, height is seen as an asset, but her size has never bothered Harrison, who makes up for a lack of height in speed, quickness and awareness.

"I've been short all my life, so it's something I'm used to. I've learned how to use my height as an advantage on the court by using my speed," she said.

It is a challenge she happily accepts, turning a negative into a positive.

"Being short, you have to work two times harder athletically than the normal person would. It's helped me a lot," she said.

Her situation is similar to the one faced by the player Muggsy Bouges, the shortest player ever to play in the NBA at 5-foot, 3-inches.

Yes, 3 inches shorter than Harrison's listed 5-6, something he made up for with similar speed and quickness and with a stunning 44-inch vertical leap. And if people notice Harrison's size, think of how they noticed Bogues' size as he was a teammate of the 7-foot, 7-inch Manute Bol.

He offered up many stories of their relationship from their days as teammates.

An example:

"Me and Nute would play one-on-one and he like to shoot this little swing shot. He didn't know I had a 44-inch vertical jump. So, he wanted to go shoot it and I blocked his shot," Bogues said with a laugh. "Boy, that ticked him off. He chased me around that damn gym around 15 minutes and he couldn't catch me."

Sometimes, even in the NBA, it's fun to be short.

As Harrison related, you get used to it. Certainly, Bogues did.

The legendary coach turned announcer Bill Raftery once put it this way in a documentary about Bogues:

"One of the kids in the neighborhood came over to his house, knocked on the door and said to his wife, 'Can Muggsy come out and play with us.?' They thought he was one of their buddies because they were the same size."

The amazing thing is that Harrison has stood tall on the court for WVU since she came here along with Kellogg from Stephen F. Austin, using the same skill sets -- less a 44-inch vertical jump -- that Bogues did and she never has, er, well, sold herself short.

She and Quinerly tormented other team's taller guards with their quickness, their ability to get free one-on-one on offense and their ability to steal the ball away. Over the past two years as teammates Quinerly had 192 steals and Harrison had 167.

That's 359 steals in two years.

Now, Quinerly is gone and Harrison will work with Sydney Shaw in the backcourt. Shaw is a different player, far more traditional as an offensive force and improving on her defense.

"Honestly, me and Sydney have good chemistry. It probably didn't show as much because me and JJ overshadowed it. Now with a chance to work together, it's been good. We're learning each other, especially with her at the No. 2 spot now," said Harrison, who has averaged 13.6 points a game while dishing out 321 assists over the past two seasons.

She also takes over the leadership reins from Quinerly.

"The leadership part, honestly, is that I've been the point guard since I got here, so that doesn't really change. I just feel in clutch situations last year JJ was the one we would look to. I'm looking forward to stepping up in those situations," she said.

"But I feel as a team we're better, so we'll be able to step up and cover that with a lot of players. We will play as a team and it won't be a one-man show, but definitely I'll have to step up my leadership."