Eron Harris, a star guard for Lawrence North High School near Indianapolis, planned to take an official visit to Wisconsin last week before the Badgers called to say he no longer fit into their plans.

But Harris, a top recruiting target for the University of Dayton, said he didn’t allow the scholarship offer from a Big Ten program to go to his head, and he wasn’t too deflated when it was taken away.

“The coach wanted something different. They took a walk-on and wanted to hold my scholarship for next year,” Harris said. “I wasn’t too surprised, though. I wasn’t expecting much. I was kind of skeptical about the whole thing with them anyway. It came out of nowhere.

“Everything is going to happen how it’s supposed to happen. It’s really motivation for me. They’re going to be sorry.”

The 6-foot-3 Harris certainly doesn’t have to worry about the Flyers changing course on him. He’s believed to be the No. 1 senior shooting guard on their recruiting board, and they’re hosting him and his father on an official visit Friday.

He made an unofficial visit to UD last month and has scholarship offers from several Midwest programs. Although he said the Flyers have a lead over the others, he’ll visit Evansville after UD and perhaps check out one more school before making a decision.

“I like their whole athletic facilities — they’re pretty nice and attractive,” he said of UD. “I didn’t think the (arena) would be that big.

“I met (academic coordinator Beth Flach), and she’s got the guys on track. That’s my main purpose in going to college.”

UD coaches also have been busy showering attention on a pair of Dunbar High School senior standouts. Deontae Hawkins will take an official visit to Auburn this week and then follow that with an official visit to UD on Sept. 15-17. He’s hoping Wolverine teammate Andre Yates will join him on the latter.

Hawkins, a 6-7 forward who is projected as a 3-man in the Flyers’ system, said Alabama and Wichita State round out his final four, but he has no clear leader.

“I need to take those visits to see if I really like the campus and see if it’s comfortable for me,” Hawkins said. “If it’s somewhere I can go, work on my game and get better and advance to the next level, that’s what I’m going to do.”

Hawkins also has offers from Miami (Fla.) and LSU, and he’s being recruited by West Virginia.

Asked what appealed to him about UD, he said: “I like everything. I like the coaching staff — they’re real cool, they show me a lot of love and show me a good time when I’m on campus. And they’re so interested in me.”

Yates, a 6-1 point guard, also said he has four finalists in UD, Nebraska, Wichita State and Creighton. He needs to get a qualifying score on the ACT before he can take official visits, but he can still make unofficial visits and has conversed with Hawkins about joining him on his trip to UD.

The two talked a couple of weeks ago for a story in the Dayton Daily News about how they like the idea of maybe attending the same college program.

“After that piece, everybody is following up with him,” Yates said of Hawkins. “We’ve been talking about going to Dayton together. Just like me, what coach (Archie) Miller brings, we love it — especially our positions. That’s what the offense runs through.”

Yates opened some eyes on the AAU circuit, out-performing more prominent point guards.

“I got a chance to play against some of the higher-ranked players, and me being under the radar, I showed a lot of people what I can do. I surprised a lot of people, too,” he said.

Yates said UD is still at the top of his list. Both players plan to make decisions before the start of basketball season. “We want to get it out of the way and concentrate on (winning) the state,” Yates said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2125 or dharris @DaytonDailyNews.com.