“It was a decision I kind of went in knowing that I wanted to make. It was a dream school for me,” Harrison said. “… [Frese] said I was the best player that she’s seen in a while at my age. For me, that was really big for someone of her status to say that.”

Patrick McDonald would agree with those sentiments. The Digital Harbor coach met Harrison as an eighth-grader and was quickly impressed with her natural ability and work ethic during her freshman year with the Rams.

“I would say right now, definitely as a sophomore compared to other sophomores, she’s Top 50. By the time she’s a senior, if she continues on the path with her work ethic, she will be a McDonald’s All-American,” McDonald said. “Her athleticism is second to none. She can dunk a tennis ball. She can touch the backboard. The things we’re doing from last year to this year is to work on her skill set. We’ve got to marry that athleticism with her skill set. We know that she knows how to jump, but in college everyone can run and jump. Add the skill set to the package you already have. And she has put in tremendous work to improve her handles and her jump shot. She can step back and hit the deep ball. So she’s just a hard worker and it’s paid off.”

Harrison teamed with two highly touted seniors -- Asia Logan (Pittsburgh) and Janay Brinkley (Middle Tennessee State) -- to power Digital Harbor to the Class 2A state semifinals. Spirited battles during practice between the freshman phenom and senior leader became routine. McDonald said Harrison, the team’s second-leading scorer at 13 points per game to go along with 11 rebounds, held her own and learned a lot playing against Logan.

“Asia Logan was probably the best high school girls basketball player I’ve ever seen. As an athlete, A’Lexus is right there with her as a freshman,” McDonald said. “[Harrison] got a chance to get great tutelage from her, along with Janay Brinkley and the rest of the girls on the team. She transitioned well and that was the biggest thing [along with] just her tremendous work ethic.”

Harrison, a straight-A student who benches 125 and squats 225, joins Georgia point guard Lexie Brown in the Terps’ 2013 recruiting class. While Harrison has three more years of high school basketball, she has no problem playing on a big stage and facing more pressure.

“I think I’m prepared to deal with the attention. It’s just a little extra,” Harrison said. “[The next three years will be] just more of me getting better, bettering myself and bettering my game.”