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Sporting KC Signs Harris to Homegrown Player Deal

By USLChampionship.com Staff, 10/24/20, 2:42PM EDT

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Young standout recorded 23 goals for Sporting Kansas City II in Championship

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Sporting Kansas City announced on Wednesday it had signed 20-year-old striker Wilson Harris as a Homegrown Player.

Harris has signed an MLS contract through 2021 with options for 2022 and 2023, becoming the 13th Homegrown Player to emerge from the Sporting Kansas City Academy. He has scored 23 goals for Sporting Kansas City II since 2018, notably becoming the youngest USL Championship player to eclipse 20 career goals this year.

Following the conclusion of the 2020 USL Championship season on Oct. 3, Harris adhered to mandatory health and safety protocols set by Sporting and MLS prior to joining the first team for training. He will be available for selection when Sporting hosts the Colorado Rapids at 7:30 p.m. CT on Saturday at Children's Mercy Park.

In three USL Championship seasons with Sporting Kansas City II, Harris has started 39 of 56 appearances and averaged 0.64 goals per 90 minutes played. The forward is coming off an impressive 2020 campaign in which he bagged a team-leading eight goals under Head Coach and longtime Sporting midfielder Paulo Nagamura. Harris played every match during the abbreviated 16-game regular season, striking twice in a 3-0 home win over OKC Energy FC on Aug. 22 and scoring in momentous road victories over Louisville City FC (July 29), FC Tulsa (Aug. 29) and Indy Eleven (Sept. 30).

Harris was the top-scoring teenager in American professional soccer in 2019, finishing the year with 12 goals in 25 USL Championship appearances. His dozen goals – which included a sizzling run of 10 strikes in his final 11 appearances – equaled the league's single-season record for a teenager.

After joining the Sporting Kansas City Academy in 2017, Harris inked his first professional contract for Sporting KC II the following year and ended the 2018 USL Championship campaign with three goals in 15 games, including seven starts. Of his 23 goals at the USL Championship level, Harris has notched 11 with his left foot, eight with his right foot and four headers.

Harris is one of eight Academy products on Sporting's current roster, joining Daniel Salloi, Gianluca Busio, Jaylin Lindsey, Wan Kuzain, Tyler Freeman, Cam Duke and Felipe Hernandez.

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