Photo by Benjamin Powell LEGACY LEFT — WVU guard Jordan Harrison finished her college career with 1,756 points, 668 assists and 346 steals.

To some degree, Jordan Harrison walked onto the WVU campus three years ago as the player to be named later.

The buzz in early April of 2023 was the hiring of Mark Kellogg. The bigger-picture priority was if he could retain a core group of returning players who had just played for the Mountaineers in the NCAA tournament days before.

Harrison’s arrival at WVU – she followed Kellogg from Stephen F. Austin – wasn’t met with any fanfare. There wasn’t hype or hoopla spreading on social media, certainly not to the same level there was a year later when former WVU men’s coach Darian DeVries brought his son with him to play in Morgantown.

If we only knew then what we know now, right?

That’s not a shot at Tucker DeVries or his father. Instead, it’s an apology of sorts directed at Harrison, who was named a finalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year on Wednesday. If we only knew the type of potential that was wrapped up inside her miniature 5-foot-6 frame back in 2023, there probably should have been more excitement built around her arrival.

Three years later, even in defeat, Harrison’s impact on the WVU women’s program was finally and duly recognized by some 25,000 fans who packed Hope Coliseum to watch Harrison perform in her final two college basketball games.

“Our true fans support us no matter what. I hope we made them proud,” Harrison said after WVU’s 74-73 loss against Kentucky in the second round of the NCAA tournament. “Yeah, I’m just so happy that my last game was here in a sold-out crowd, which I never would have thought I would play in front of a sold-out crowd that was cheering for us. We love them to death. Sorry we couldn’t get it done, but we hope we made you all proud this season.”

The final numbers (including her one season with Kellogg at Stephen F. Austin): 1,756 points, 668 assists, 346 steals and 157 3-pointers. Harrison made 83% of her foul shots, played in 134 games and started every single one of them.

Now, all of Harrison’s numbers weren’t compiled playing at WVU, but when you make a hypothetical comparison to her career numbers to other WVU past greats, you’ll find there isn’t really one of them who truly matches up in each category.

J.J. Quinerly falls short in assists. Rosemary Kosiorek didn’t quite reach 300 steals. Meg Bulger falls short in steals and assists, as does Bria Holmes.

Kosiorek’s career at WVU is the one who most closely compares to Harrison’s, and when your WVU career is mentioned in the same sentence as Kosiorek, yeah, that’s a legacy built.

“That’s what I told her too when I was hugging her afterward in the locker room, yeah, that’s what she’s left. She left an amazing legacy,” Kellogg said. “I told her, when they announced her in the starting lineup the last two days, I hope she took that in. It gave me some goosebumps a little bit.

“I knew her when she was 16, probably that’s when we started that journey together. To see her grow into the player and person she is; I’ve said it many times, coaches do have favorites. She is one of mine, and I don’t hesitate to say that.”

Durability? Harrison had plenty of it. Over the course of four years’ worth of bumps and bruises, twisted ankles, pokes to the eye, a shoulder to the back of the head while fighting through screens, she missed only one game.

It had nothing to do with injury, but rather it was NCAA rules that forced her to sit out one game after the scuffle against Duke earlier this season.

And, sure, Harrison had an off night, or two, but never when it mattered most. She was named the Big 12 tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after leading the Mountaineers to the championship a few weeks back.

Over four years, Harrison was never part of a team that felt the sting of an opening-game loss in a postseason tournament. Not once did Harrison ever feel the disappointment of being one-and-done.

And she accomplished all of that while beating the odds. Harrison’s high school career in Oklahoma City, Okla. saw her play for one of the nation’s top-ranked high schools in the country as a senior. Her AAU team was filled with future Division I prospects.

Numerous Division I coaches saw Harrison play. Her name was out there, yet so many of those coaches decided to take a pass, because of her smaller size. Harrison has told the story a dozen times how she was told she was too small to play major Division I college basketball.

Not Kellogg. He saw the raw talent, the heart and determination that had built within Harrison.

“She’s a phenomenal kid, great character, raised the right way, works her ass off, has talent, defends, does everything that you would want,” Kellogg said. “I have immense pride in knowing that Jordan Harrison gave me everything, the loyalty that she showed. I hope I’ve reciprocated back to that kid, but if she’s not at the top, she’s right up there close.”

That may just pretty much sum it up. If Harrison isn’t considered at the top of the all-time greats to have worn a WVU uniform, she’s right up there close.

If only we just would have known that three years ago. It would have made for one heck of a story. If nothing else, that’s what Harrison accomplished in her years at WVU – she wrote one fantastic tale.

“It’s definitely been a great ride, I would say,” she said. “I’m just very thankful and blessed for the journey here. I love it here, and I wouldn’t have traded it for the world.

“Yeah, we had to build, and I think that’s what we did. We just built it up more each year. I just want to thank coach Kellogg for believing in me. It’s definitely been a great journey, and I’m happy to have done it with my teammates.”