	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

WNBA DRAFT

April 17, 2020

Tyasha Harris

New York, New York

Q. The last time you and Allisha [Gray] and Kaela [Davis] were in Dallas, it turned out pretty good. Once your name got picked, how much did it take for Allisha and Kaela to reach out to you and say that you were going to do it again?
TYASHA HARRIS: Actually I don't know right now because my phone is ringing off the hook, so I haven't even looked at the messages yet.

Q. How exciting will it be to reunite with them?
TYASHA HARRIS: It's going to be really nice. I'm just excited because we played together for a year, and I know them, so I'll get accustomed really well. They can teach me the ropes and stuff.

Q. I was wondering what your feelings about you and Kiki [Mikiah Herbert Harrigan] going back to back there.
TYASHA HARRIS: You said what was I wondering?

Q. Yeah, what were you feeling?
TYASHA HARRIS: I was super excited for it, just because a lot of people didn't have her projected as high and she shocked the world, and I'm just so, so happy for her and I'm so proud, and I love her to death, and I'm just happy that we could go back to back like that.

Q. Can you talk about what Commissioner [Cathy Engelbert] and the rest of the league was able to do to make this night special for you and the rest of the draftees despite the circumstances?
TYASHA HARRIS: Yeah, through a difficult time and unprecedented time of the corona being on lockdown, I think they made a great effort just to make it a great night. Even though it was difficult, I think we found peace and happiness throughout it all, and just made this a wonderful night for me and other draftees.

Q. And then secondly, how long did it take you to get your outfit together for tonight?
TYASHA HARRIS: Actually I had an outfit -- I shipped the outfit a while back but it has not gotten here. I think it was still in California, so I had to last minute get an outfit. It probably took about two hours, so it was kind of a last-minute thing, but it turned out really well.

Q. I was wondering, with six first-round draft picks in the last few years for South Carolina women's basketball, I wanted to know your thoughts on the state of the program and what you think it means for just the Gamecock program as a whole to now have two more first-round draft picks and a bunch of players now in the WNBA.
TYASHA HARRIS: Yeah, it just shows what type of program that we have. It just shows the coaching staff, how well they are being able to develop players. I think this just gives a statement of this how well Coach [Dawn] Staley is with her players and how we can all evolve.

Q. Who's going to win that first Wings-Aces match-up?
TYASHA HARRIS: Definitely the Dallas Wings, us.

Q. I know Coach Staley doesn't want to take too much credit, but being able to work with her for four years, someone who's played at this level, especially at that guard position, how has she been able to develop your game and get you ready for this next level?
TYASHA HARRIS: Yeah, I mean, I give a lot to credit to her just because she was a great point guard when she was playing and is very highly decorated. Just every time she talked she was giving me little nuggets of how to be a great point guard. I took advantage of her. That was one of the reasons why I went to South Carolina, just so I could learn from her and she could help me out to be a better player and a person.

Q. Coach Staley was telling us last week about how the national narrative around this team hasn't always been fair in terms of you guys not getting the recognition you deserve. With the work you and Kiki did your senior year, do you feel like you guys helped shift that narrative going into next year for this team?
TYASHA HARRIS: Yeah, most definitely. I think we shocked the world. We proved to the world that we are a top team and that we deserved to be top. I'm excited to see what the team can do next year because I know that we left a good legacy and tradition.

Q. Skylar Diggins is one of the WNBA vets who praised your game. What does it mean to have praise from WNBA veterans like Skylar?
TYASHA HARRIS: It means the world because I've looked up to Skylar since I was a little girl. We kind of come from the same area. She was born and raised in South Bend and my dad was from there so I was raised there for a little bit through part of my life, so it's great that we can both represent Indiana well, especially because we play the same position.

Q. Just to touch back on changing the narrative, how do you drown out the noise of what people say about your game, and do you feel like you're going to come into the league with a chip on your shoulder and having something to prove in your first year?
TYASHA HARRIS: Yeah, I mean, I think my circle keeps me up, motivated. They think highly of me, and I think that's what's been keeping me going and keeping my confidence. I am going to come in with a chip on my shoulder just because I feel like I have to prove myself every day, and that's nothing new, though, so I'm excited just to see what I can do for Dallas.

Q. How are you feeling right now?
TYASHA HARRIS: I'm super excited. Just excited that my dreams are finally coming to reality.

Q. The point guard position in the WNBA, it's a grind. How excited are you to get to compete against the best in the world at what they do?
TYASHA HARRIS: Super excited because I'm a very competitive person. I mean, I know what has been played just as far as players being in the league right now and I'm just super excited for the grind and to finally play somewhere that I've always dreamed of playing.

Q. Did Dawn Staley ever lace them up and get on the floor with y'all?
TYASHA HARRIS: No, she never laced them up, but she showed off her skills a little bit when they were stretching, just here and there, but nothing up and down.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297