Harris has standards that he wants to surpass

Paul Harris reported for his second Hawaii training camp with more than 1,000 yards to his account and — by his measure — a lot more to prove.

“Not really focused on last year because it’s a whole new program and coaching staff,” Harris said of his breakout junior season.

“I just have to prove myself and … I have to show them my standards and exceed my standards, because last year I felt like I left a lot of yards on the field.”

No small statement considering Harris turned in the fourth-highest single-season yardage total in the program’s history with 1,132.

Along the way, he set a school record with a 95-yard touchdown run and tied another with a streak of four consecutive 100-yard performances that he’ll carry into his senior season.

Compared to his record sprint against UC Davis last September, Harris’ path to Manoa was far more meandering.

Coming out of Marion-Franklin High School in Columbus, Ohio, Harris enrolled at Toledo with intentions of walking on with the Rockets. When that didn’t work out, a friend who was heading to junior college in California forwarded one of Harris’ highlight tapes to the coaching staff.

“And then it was just on from there,” Harris said.

Harris thrived as a running back and kick returner at Ventura College, earning the nickname “Housecall,” and headed farther west when Hawaii offered a Division I opportunity.

“I definitely didn’t really expect it, but I always had tunnel vision to try to make it to this level,” said Harris, who tied for the team lead with six touchdowns last season.

The Rainbow Warriors broke camp with Harris bracketed with junior Diocemy Saint Juste atop the depth chart. Saint Juste returns from a redshirt season cut short by a hamstring injury suffered in last year’s camp and showed impressive burst during preseason practices.

“It may be series to series,” UH offensive coordinator Brian Smith said of the shared role in UH’s single-back alignment.

“There’s going to be some things that (Saint Juste) does a little better than Paul and vice versa. So there’s going to be some plays and situations where we’re going to want to get a certain guy in, but I would expect both of them to play a fairly significant amount.”

Senior Steven Lakalaka, UH’s leading rusher in 2014, junior Ryan Tuiasoa and freshman Freddie Holly add to a deep group of backs.

“We have a lot of athletic backs, so everything is looking good and we’re all competing,” Harris said. “Each time we’re out on the field it seems like we’re getting better and better.”

RUNNING BACKS