University of Georgia Athletics
Quick Chat: Christian Harrison
December 03, 2018 | Men's Basketball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Christian Harrison isn't messing around in the classroom.
A redshirt senior from Atlanta that transferred to Georgia after two years at Troy, the 6-foot-4 guard is headed toward graduating with a double major, in Finance and Real Estate. He's a high-achieving student from a high-achieving family, both athletically, academically and professionally.
During a Quick Chat before a recent practice, Harrison talked about his family, his soccer days, his plans for the future and much more. Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: Your uncle is former longtime NBA player Buck Williams, your brother Emerson played college soccer at the Naval Academy, your sister Lauren is playing volleyball at UNC, so how does all this great athleticism come out when the whole family gets together? It is always a competition at your house?
Harrison: Kind of, more so between my brother and I, but it's never anything that serious. There's nothing that creates a feud between the two of us. ... Over the years we've kind of competed in ways where we didn't even know we were competing.
Frierson: Is there an example of that, like board games or grades?
Harrison: Grades and little things like, "I can do this better than you." Since I've been older it's been who's faster? Is he faster than me or am I faster than him? It's always just friendly stuff like that.
Frierson: I understand that your dad's a doctor (Emerson, a urologist) and your mom's a lawyer (Cynthia, a defense attorney). What is it like growing up in a house with those kinds of academic and professional achievers?
Harrison: I guess you're held to a high standard and you want to make your parents proud, of course, because they've worked so hard to provide for myself and my siblings. It's a blessing because you get to see a different lifestyle to work towards, to get to and achieve, and you want to go out and do your best in everything that you do.
Frierson: Are you interested in going into either of those fields?
Harrison: No (laughs), I don't want to go to medical school, too many years doing that, and law school, I don't think I like reading enough to become a lawyer. I respect both of my parents for what they do and the sacrifices they've made, but I don't think I want to take either of those routes for my career choice.
Frierson: So what is next for you, after graduation?
Harrison: I'm still deciding. It could go finance, investment banking, maybe private equity, or commercial real estate. I'm still trying to weight out those options and figure out which route to take.
Frierson: We're almost at Thanksgiving as we do this interview, so what is a Thanksgiving like at the Harrison house? Is there something you always look forward to?
Harrison: I just look forward to being home with my family, just relaxing and being around everyone. There is no particular food that I enjoy the most, it's all really good, but just being around my parents, my siblings, my grandparents and whoever else decides to drop by to get a plate.
Frierson: What is something old-school that you're really into, like music, movies or cars?
Harrison: I like all of that. I'm not so familiar with old-school movies, I do like them though when they come on my TV, but cars and music, for sure.
Frierson: Is there an old car that you'd love to have one day?
Harrison: A bunch of them. I like classic Chevys, classic Dodge, the list goes on — I could name a bunch of different cars I'd like to have and collect.
Frierson: Is there a class you've taken here at Georgia that really had a profound impact on you, that you almost wish you could take it again because you got so much out of it?
Harrison: Probably my Applied Corporate Finance class and my Real Estate 4000; my Applied Corporate Finance, it made me realize that I had an interest in maybe project decision rules and stuff like that. Also, that in conjunction my Real Estate 4000 sparked an interest in a double major and I added that Real Estate major because they all kind of run together.
Frierson: When you started college, could you have ever imagined answering that question that way?
Harrison: No, probably not (laughs). It's been the professors, as well, I've had a lot of really great professors.
Frierson: When you were a kid shooting in the gym or driveway by yourself, who did you pretend to be when you imagined pulling up for the game-winning shot?
Harrison: When I was a kid I wasn't doing much of that because I was playing soccer. I've been a big Kobe (Bryant) fan, so I guess if it was anybody it was probably Kobe. As a young kid, I didn't really have the same basketball childhood that most of my teammates might have.
Frierson: Tell me about your soccer days, we're you a good player? I'd guess you had to be given how good an athlete you are.
Harrison: Yeah, I would say I was pretty good. That's what I started out playing, from age four up until about 14, then I switched to basketball when I went to high school. I guess I got kind of burned out, I wasn't as passionate about it and I wanted to switch to something new, so I picked up basketball.
Frierson: What's the best live performance you've ever seen?
Harrison: Luckily, I go to UGA and I get to see the football team just about every Saturday. That's always a great atmosphere to be in. Musically, it would probably be Drake — he had a really great concert that I went to two years ago.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
