Jimmy Lafakis/MDN Maverick Harris (left) speaks with former Minot State guard Kyle Beisch (right) during a game this past season inside the MSU Dome. Harris is the director of basketball operations for the MSU men’s and women’s basketball teams.

Maverick Harris is the director of basketball operations for the Minot State men’s and women’s basketball teams. After playing college basketball at Northland College in Wisconsin, Harris pursued a coaching career.

The Minot Daily News spoke with Harris about his Indiana upbringing, love for basketball and other topics in a recent one-on-one-interview. Some responses are edited for brevity and clarity.

MDN: What’s the story behind your rather unique name?

MH: Honestly, the story I’ve got is from my mom. My parents were on the road to visit my grandparents out in New Mexico. They were trying to discuss names before I was born. They were just throwing out all these different names.

On my dad’s side of the family, the first names have to be “M” names. My mom was throwing out ideas, and they threw out the name “Maverick.” They said they wanted a tough name, a maverick-type name. My dad was like, “How about Maverick?” That’s kind of how it came about.

MDN: When you think of basketball, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?

MH: I think of when I was growing up, playing and shooting hoops in the driveway. I was watching every Pacers game on TV. Being from Indiana, I always watched every game. In the garage, I was shooting hoops on a little Nerf hoop and watching on a small black-and-white TV that my dad had from when he was a little younger. I think about when I was younger, when I was getting used to the sport and really getting into it. That’s probably my favorite memory of basketball, just shooting hoops in the driveway as I was getting older.

MDN: What does it mean to be an MSU Beaver?

MH: I think it means that you’re hard-working. You’re a little different from everyone else. Being in North Dakota, you’re so far from everyone else. Being a Beaver is really a privilege, I would say. The students and the athletes that we get at Minot State always feel like they have something to prove.

Through their hard work and dedication, they really do a good job of trying to prove everyone wrong. That was kind of my mindset growing up. All the people that I work with, they all have something to prove. They work really hard to show everybody who they are.

MDN: Among the people you’ve worked with, who do you admire and why?

MH: I don’t know if there is any one person who stands out over everybody else. I think everybody has a unique story and a unique background. I’m the kind of person who tries to learn from everybody.

The people I’ve worked with side-by-side, they all have a unique story. When I’ve worked with them, it’s been, “What can we do to help each other grow and become better?” If something is missing from them and something is missing from me, we try to fill it for each other. The people that I work for directly, head coaches (Matt) Murken and (Mark) Graupe, they both have unique personalities. They’re pretty different in how they approach life. At the same time, they’re very similar in how hard they work, their dedication to their craft and getting better.

Everything they do is for the betterment of the team. It’s never in their self-interest. It’s always, “How can we be better as a team? How can we be better as a staff? How can we be better in general?” What I’ve learned the most, especially during my time here, is how hard you need to work and how much dedication you have to have to be constantly improving. Never be satisfied with where you’re at now. Always strive to make improvements.

MDN: What drew you to basketball operations?

MH: I want to be the greatest I can possibly be. My goal is to be a head coach at the highest level I can possibly be at, whether that’s high school or the Olympic team. That’s a very wide range, but in the operations side of it, I just want to learn everything I can. That way, when I do have the opportunity to be a head coach someday, I can be as prepared as possible.

Going through the steps and going through the process is something that I think is necessary. I started my career out as an assistant at a Division III school. I got to do a lot of hands-on training and player development. I worked with (skills trainer) Joey Burton on player development. Coming here, I was a grad assistant for the men’s team first. I got to get my hands on a lot of different aspects. Some of it was basketball-related, some of it was office-related and some of it was trying to make sure the program was running smoothly.

This is another added responsibility that’s necessary to understand how things work at the college level. I never thought that I could run a camp, set up our travel or get us to different places. Being able to do that is really vital in the grand scheme of my goals and dreams.

MDN: What motivates you to work every day?

MH: My background. Both my parents are pretty hard-working. They get up every day and they don’t stop working until it’s time to go to bed. I feel like I have something to prove. I wasn’t the tallest kid, I wasn’t the fastest kid and I wasn’t the most athletic. I wasn’t the most skilled or the most talented, but I believe I was one of the hardest-working. That’s what helped me land on any team I ever played on. That’s what has helped me be successful at every job I’ve ever had. I feel like I do have something to prove. I’m at a higher level than what I played at. That’s pretty difficult to do, I think. I want to keep getting better and keep growing as a coach. I don’t have all the answers. As much as I feel like I do, I definitely don’t have all the answers. I definitely don’t feel like I’ve gotten to where I want to get to. I feel like I have a lot of work to do.

MDN: If you were 80 years old, what would you tell your grandchildren about life?

MH: There’s two sides of life. I think there’s your working side and there’s your family side. I’ll be getting married here in a couple months. That’s a very important part of my life, my family. I think that’s one side of things. Loving your family, being there for your family and doing things with your family. Just knowing that your family loves you and knowing that your family is always going to be there, no matter what kind of bumps in the road you face. There’s always going to be somebody to be there to pick you up, dust you off and make sure that you’re staying on the right track.

I think there’s also the work side of things. Whatever work you do, just do it to your fullest capabilities. Set your mind to never quit something, never give up on something and always work your hardest. I think both of those things are kind of a blend. We all go to work every day and we always come home to our family. Just enjoying both and trying to see how you can incorporate both into your life, I think that’s something that is important.

MDN: If you could run and open any type of store, what would you sell?

MH: LEGOs or ice cream. I’m very passionate about both. I love to eat and I have a big LEGO collection. I know I’m a big kid when I say that. I like to put LEGOs together. I’ve always thought that if this basketball stuff doesn’t work out, I could be a LEGO builder for the company. If LEGOs don’t work out, then I’ll be selling ice cream if I don’t eat it all by then. My favorite flavor in the world is lemon custard. That would definitely be one of my flavors that I’m going to be selling. Lemon custard or some kind of blackberry ice cream.

Jimmy Lafakis covers Minot High School sports and Class B high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @JJLII30.