Freshman forward Jazmine Harris oozes with potential — a potential still being molded into a consistent post presence at the college level.

Harris, from West Allis, Wis., averaged 14.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.3 steals, 2.1 assists and 1.3 blocks per game during her senior season at Heritage Christian High School. She led Heritage Christian to its first state championship during her junior season.

Harris, who is fourth on the Huskies with a 6.3 point-per-game average, has had her moments in her first season at NIU. She has scored in double digits six times in 24 games off the bench; however, she has been held to five or fewer points on 13 occasions.

“I think that’s one of my struggles this year: being consistent,” Harris said. “… Sometimes I have more confidence in some games; others, I just kind of fall back into not being the best that I can be.

“I think … me building my confidence can help me be consistent. Working hard like I’ve been working and just staying consistent with that can help me be even more consistent when my team really needs me to show up and play.”

Harris, who has upped her scoring from 5.4 points per game to 6.3 over the last eight games, said one of the main factors in her progression since coming to NIU is the relationship she’s developed with assistant coach Debbie Whitman, her position coach.

Whitman said Harris does better if there’s one voice coaching her. She said she had to refine fundamentals with Harris, but Harris has taken the coaching in stride and has begun to translate it to the court.

“Off the bench, she can be an instant scoring threat for us,” Whitman said. “She gives a spark off the bench when she’s locked in. And if she’s locked in, we’re a different team.”

A lot of what Harris does offensively and defensively is natural, which head coach Kathi Bennett said is exciting because that’s something that can’t be coached into someone. Bennett said she hopes she has a star in Harris, but she knows the process of developing her into one will be arduous.

“To say star right now, there’s a lot of work and a lot of situations that we have to go through,” Bennett said. “But if she keeps the right mentality and stays humble and keeps working her hardest, I think she’s got the tools to be that. But to be that you have to be consistent, and that’s something that Jaz has to work on. We’ve seen her up and down, and what we need from her is to be consistent game to game. Once that happens, I think she has that chance.”

Assistant coach Latrell Fleming, who was Harris’ AAU coach with the Wisconsin Basketball Academy (WBA Prestige), said Harris has grown and begun to figure out what it means to work hard. He said Harris is capable of doing great things and has barely scratched the surface.

“I think she’s definitely going to be an All-MAC player,” Fleming said. “She’s shown flashes and signs. … Right now she’s like a roller coaster: One day she looks really good and one day she doesn’t look as good. When she figures out how to be consistent, I think she can be an All-MAC player and one of the better players that ever played at Northern [Illinois].”