Parmis, pets and passionate fans: what lured Harris home

Michael Harris has been looking forward to a lot of things since signing on with his hometown club.

There are the Sunday parmigiana nights at his parents’ house, reconnecting with his dogs after three years away and, more than anything, playing in front of a packed-out Adelaide Entertainment Centre filled with passionate 36ers fans.

While he’s played there in Perth colours, he knows it’ll be different in a blue jersey.

“I'm pretty keen to be on the supporting side of their fanatical behaviour in Adelaide,” Harris told Adelaide 36ers Media.

“They obviously sell out all these games and they're very passionate and they come out every week and that's something that I'm really looking forward to being in front of.

“It really helps when you're playing and you have that large fan base that comes out and it's cheering for you and it's very passionate. It makes a big difference in the flow of the game.

"Obviously when you're the away team, it's dead silent, and you don't have that energy driving you forward. 

“On the other side of that, when you're doing well and you're at home and that energy is helping you push forward, it's just so much easier to keep going and instead of making that a 10-point run, that's a 15-point run, or instead of being a 10-point slip, it's only a five-point slip.”

Mount Gambier born and raised, Harris moved to Mount Barker in his early teens and came through the Forestville Eagles where he won a championship in 2019 before joining the 36ers as a development player.

After three seasons with the Wildcats in Perth, he has been lured home.

“I’m really keen to be joining the team and building towards success,” Harris said of joining the 36ers.

“The Adelaide front office was very up front and very keen to have me on board so I just think their enthusiasm to have me as part of the team and be back in Adelaide was kind of what led me to being back here, but it's sort of a mutual thing as well.

“I really wanted to come back and see my family and friends and be at home again, just seeing my family, all my childhood friends and my dogs, hopefully, they still remember me after all this time.

“It'll be good to be back there and not have to rush those visits and, you know, go over for Sunday chicken parmi night.”

Fellow recruit Isaac White, who is also returning to his hometown club, has already reached out about becoming housemates, with the pair having formed a friendship while playing against each other – Harris at Forestville and White at Sturt.

And the duo are important additions for 36ers coach Mike Wells, who has a clear plan for how he wants the side to play in his second season at the helm.

“Mike's been really up front about what he sees as my role, which is what you want from the coach,” Harris said.

“He said we want to play fast paced, shooting threes, just trying to adapt to what all the good teams have been doing the last couple of years, and that's being dynamic in transition, having multiple ball handlers, just having a lot of guys that can space the floor and play fast.”

Harris will return to Adelaide at the conclusion of his NBL1 commitments in Melbourne with the Frankston Blues.