The Kansas women’s basketball team opened its 2024-25 season Wednesday night, with a 56-43 win over Lindenwood at Allen Fieldhouse.
Entering the Jayhawks’ season opener, the marquee highlighted the return of sophomore star S’Mya Nichols, senior guard Wyvette Mayberry and the debut of newcomer Elle Evans.
But there’s another new player on KU coach Brandon Schneider’s roster who is lurking in the shadows and a little off the radar as the season begins.
Her name is Brittany Harshaw and she’s a 6-foot-1 transfer from Creighton who grew up in Andover, Kansas and was in the starting lineup during Wednesday’s victory, finishing with a solid line of 9 points, 9 rebounds and 3 3-pointers in 37 minutes.
She’s not exactly a household name yet, but each of the three Jayhawks mentioned above recently picked Harshaw when asked to give their answer for most underrated player on the team.
“She didn’t get a lot of playing time at Creighton,” Mayberry said last month at Big 12 media day. “Don’t know why. But she’s definitely gonna be a big contributor for us and I’m excited for her to show the world what she has.”
Because she played just 5.5 minutes per game in 27 appearances at Creighton, it’s hard to explain in numbers what KU has in Harshaw. She attempted just 55 shots and made 8 of 27 3-point attempts. No other notable statistics really jump off the page.
That makes the words of her teammates all the more reliable, given that they have been with her — practicing, working out, playing exhibition games and more — for the past four or five months.
“I feel like she just brings so much to our team,” Evans told R1S1 Sports of Harshaw. “We know about her, but the media and other people don’t really know much about her yet. It’ll be really exciting to see and I know Jayhawk fans are gonna enjoy seeing her this year.”
In just a few words, Nichols pinpointed why.
“She comes out on the court and is just a dog,” said Nichols, who led Kansas with 20 points on Wednesday night. “You can see it in the way she walks. I’m like, ‘This girl’s good.’ That’s Brittany.”
Added Mayberry: “She’s good and, also, she’s a great person. Not just on the court, but off the court, too. She’s a great human being. She’s very passionate. She plays hard, she’s a great shooter, she can drive it and she’s building a lot of confidence now at Kansas, stepping into a bigger role.”
"... People will soon learn her name and they will realize how good she is." — KU guard Elle Evans on teammate Brittany Harshaw
Just how big her impact is this season remains to be seen. But like a lot of the new faces Schneider added to his returning core, Harshaw carries with her some versatility, the ability to get up and down the floor and a willingness to let it fly from 3-point range.
When previewing the 2024-25 season a couple of weeks ago, Schneider likened the new style of play the Jayhawks expect to showcase to what you might see in football.
“I don’t know that we’re going to be able to run the ball a lot,” he said referencing the 2023-24 team’s ability to throw it to Taiyanna Jackson in the post and play more inside-out. “We may have to pitch it around a little bit and spread it out.”
While the quarterback of that type of attack will be Nichols, new players like Harshaw, Evans and others will be critical in helping Nichols make it work.
“Not having everyone being known works to our advantage,” Evans said. “People may be like, ‘Holy cow; who is this girl that we’ve never heard about?’ So, yeah, that may help us, but people will soon learn her name and they will realize how good she is.”
Harshaw and the Jayhawks (1-0) will return to action tonight at 6:30 p.m. against Sam Houston State at Allen Fieldhouse.
— For tickets to all KU athletic events, visit kuathletics.com
