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Lusia Harris

Lusia Mae Harris (February 10, 1955 – January 18, 2022) was an American professional basketball player. Harris is considered to be one of the pioneers of women's basketball. She played for Delta State University and won three consecutive Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) National Championships, the predecessors to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships, from 1975 to 1977. On the international level, she represented the United States' national team. She was on the team which won the gold medal in the 1975 Pan American Games. In addition, she was a member of the team which won the silver medal in the 1976 Olympic Games, the first women's basketball tournament in the Olympic Games. She played professional basketball with the Houston Angels of the Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL) and was the first and only woman ever to be officially drafted by the National Basketball Association (NBA). For her achievements, Harris was inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.[1]

Lusia Harris
Harris as a senior at Delta State
Personal information
Born(1955-02-10)February 10, 1955
Minter City, Mississippi, U.S.
DiedJanuary 18, 2022(2022-01-18) (aged 66)
Mound Bayou, Mississippi, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High schoolAmanda Elzy
(near Greenwood, Mississippi)
CollegeDelta State (1973–1977)
NBA draft1977: 7th round, 137th overall pick
Selected by the New Orleans Jazz
Playing career1979–1980
PositionCenter
Career history
1979–1980Houston Angels
Career highlights and awards
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Basketball Hall of Fame
Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
Medals
Representing  United States
Women's basketball
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 1975 Mexico City Team competition
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1976 Montreal Team competition
Sign along Highway 49 East recognizing Minter City as the hometown of Lusia Harris

Early life

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Lusia Mae Harris was born in Minter City, Mississippi,[2] to Ethel Harris and Willie Harris, a sharecropper in the cotton fields. She was the fourth of five daughters and the tenth of eleven children, all of whom attended Amanda Elzy High School near Greenwood, Mississippi.[3] All of her brothers and one of her older sisters, Janie, also played basketball.[3]

Harris played basketball under coach Conway Stewart in high school. She won the most valuable player award three years in a row, served as team captain, and made the state All-Star team .[4] She scored a school record 46 points in one game and led her school to the state tournament in Jackson, Mississippi.[5]

After her high school graduation, she had planned to attend Alcorn State University, which did not have a women's basketball team.[6] However, she was recruited by Melvin Hemphill to play for Margaret Wade, who was restarting a collegiate women's team at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi.[7] She attended school on a combination of academic scholarships and work study funds,[6] since this was prior to Title IX.

College career

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In her first year at Delta State, 1973–74, Harris helped the Lady Statesmen to a 16–2 record. However, they finished third in the regional tournament and failed to qualify for the national tournament.[8]

In the 1974–75 season, the Lady Statesmen qualified for the national tournament at Harrisonburg, Virginia. They went all the way to the final, where they met the Mighty Macs of Immaculata University who had won the last three consecutive AIAW championships.[9] In the final, Harris scored 32 points and recorded 16 rebounds to lead Delta State past Immaculata 90–81.[10] The 1975 championship game was televised nationally (albeit delayed). This was the first year that women's basketball games were nationally televised by a major network.[6] That season, Delta State went undefeated with a 28–0 record, the only undefeated college season that year (men or women).[9] Harris scored a total of 138 points and 63 rebounds in four games at the national tournament and was named as the tournament's most valuable player.[10]

In the 1975–76 season, Delta State and Immaculata met again in the national tournament final. Harris again led Delta State with 30 points and 18 rebounds in a 69–64 victory.[11] That season, she led the nation in scoring with 1,060 points and 31.2 points per game average, including a 58-point game against Tennessee Tech.

In her senior, 1976–77, season, Delta State played a game in the Madison Square Garden in which Harris scored 47 points. This was one of the first women's basketball games ever played there.[4] In 1977, Delta State went to the national tournament final for the third year in a row. In the final, Harris achieved 23 points and 16 rebounds as Delta State defeated Louisiana State University 68–55 for their third consecutive national title.[12]

Harris was named the national tournament's most valuable player; she was also named to the All-American first team during Delta State's three winning seasons.[8][13] Her college career record was 109–6, and included victories over later NCAA Division I powerhouses such as Immaculata University, University of Tennessee, Baylor University, University of Mississippi, Louisiana State University and Louisiana Tech University.[8] Harris finished her college career with 2,981 points and 1,662 rebounds, averaging 25.9 points and 14.5 rebounds per game.[8] She also graduated holding fifteen of eighteen of Delta State's team, single game, and career records. In 1977, she won the inaugural Honda Sports Award for basketball,[14] as well as the Broderick Cup, an award for outstanding female athletes in college.[15][16][17]

During her tenure at Delta State, Harris was the only African American player on the team.[18][19]

Delta State statistics

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Source[20]

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
Year Team GP Points FG% FT% RPG PPG
1974 Delta State NA
1975 Delta State NA
1976 Delta State 34 1060 61.9% NA 15.1 31.2
1977 Delta State NA
Career 115 2981 63.3% 66.3% 14.5 25.9

National team career

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In 1975, Harris was selected to the United States national team in the FIBA World Championship for Women in Colombia and the Pan American Games in Mexico City, Mexico. She teamed up with high school star Nancy Lieberman and fellow college stars Ann Meyers and Pat Head. In the FIBA World Championship, the United States compiled a 4–3 record and finished in eighth place.[21] In the Pan American Games, the United States team went unbeaten in seven games to win the gold medal, their first win since 1963. They averaged 86.7 points per game with an average winning margin of 34.4.[22]

The following year, Harris was selected to represent the United States in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada, the first women's basketball tournament in the Olympic Games. She used the number seven on her Olympics jersey.[23] She teamed up with most of her teammates in the 1975 Pan American Games, including Lieberman, Meyers and Head. In the opening game against Japan, Harris scored the first ever points in women's Olympic basketball tournament.[4][24] The United States team won three games and lost two games against Japan and the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union team went undefeated and won the gold medal, while the United States team won the silver medal. Harris played in all five games, averaging 15.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.[25]

Professional career

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In the seventh round of the 1977 NBA draft, the New Orleans Jazz selected Harris with the 137th pick overall. She became the second woman ever drafted by an NBA team, after Denise Long, who was selected by the San Francisco Warriors in the 1969 draft.[26] However, the league voided the Warriors' selection, thus Harris became the first and only woman ever officially drafted.[27] Harris did not express an interest to play in the NBA and declined to try out for the Jazz.[28] It was later revealed that she was pregnant at the time, which made her unable to attend the Jazz's training camp.[29] She was selected ahead of 33 male players, including the Jazz's eighth round selection, Dave Speicher from the University of Toledo.[30]

Harris never played in the NBA or any other men's basketball league but played professional basketball briefly in the 1979–80 season with the Houston Angels of the Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL).[28] She was initially picked as the number one free agent by the Angels in 1978, the league's inaugural season.[4]

Personal life and death

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Harris graduated from Delta State University with a bachelor's degree in health, physical education and recreation in 1977.[4] After graduation, she worked for Delta State as an admissions counselor and assistant basketball coach.[31] She earned a master's degree in education from Delta State in 1984. After leaving the assistant coaching post at Delta State, she served as the head coach at Texas Southern University in Houston for two years.[3] She then returned to her native Mississippi where she worked as a high school teacher and coach at her alma mater Amanda Elzy High School in Greenwood, at the Greenville Public School District, and at Ruleville Central High School.[32]

Harris married George E. Stewart on February 4, 1977.[4] They had four children, two sons and twin daughters.[3] She was a member of Delta Sigma Theta[33]

Harris died at a therapy facility in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, on January 18, 2022, at age 66.[34][35]

Legacy

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For her achievements and contributions to the Delta State University, Harris was inducted to the Delta State's Hall of Fame in 1983.[36] In 1992, she became the first African-American woman inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.[37] In 1999, Harris, along with her college coach, Margaret Wade, and her teammates in the national team, Nancy Lieberman, Ann Meyers and Pat Head, were among the 26 inaugural inductees to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.[38] She has also been named to the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame.[5]

The Queen of Basketball, a film about Harris, won the 2022 Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject); it was produced and directed by Canadian filmmaker Ben Proudfoot, with Shaquille O'Neal and Stephen Curry as executive producers.[35][39] It was released June 10, 2021, seven months before her death.[40]

References

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  1. ^ Crowther, Linnea (January 19, 2022). "Lusia Harris obituary: basketball pioneer dies at 66 – Legacy.com". legacy.com. Archived from the original on January 20, 2022. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  2. ^ Lusia Harris at Olympedia (archive)  
  3. ^ a b c d "Oral history with Ms. Lusia Harris-Stewart". University of Southern Mississippi. December 18, 1999. Archived from the original on August 29, 2010. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Porter, David L. (2005). Basketball: A Biographical Dictionary. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 454–455. ISBN 978-0-313-30952-6. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  5. ^ a b Wheelock, Helen. "Lucy's Legacy: A Profile of Lusia Harris-Stewart". Women's Sports Foundation. Archived from the original on November 21, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  6. ^ a b c Lannin, Joanne (2000). A History of Basketball for Girls and Women: From Bloomers to Big Leagues. Lerner Sports. pp. 84–85. ISBN 978-0-8225-9863-3.
  7. ^ Grundy, Pamela; Shackelford, Susan (2005). Shattering The Glass: The Remarkable History of Women's Basketball. University of North Carolina Press. pp. 163–168. ISBN 978-1-56584-822-1. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  8. ^ a b c d "2010–2011 Delta State University Lady Statesmen Basketball Guide, Section 5: The History" (PDF). Delta State University. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
  9. ^ a b Williamson, Nancy (December 1, 1975). "The Women". Sports Illustrated. Time Warner Company. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  10. ^ a b "Delta State dethrones Immaculata". The Free Lance-Star. Fredericksburg, Virginia: The Free Lance–Star Publishing Company. March 24, 1975. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
  11. ^ "Lucia Harris, Delta State will get better". St. Joseph News-Press. Saint Joseph, Missouri: News-Press & Gazette Company. March 29, 1976. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
  12. ^ "Delta State take 3rd title". Washington Afro-American. Washington, D.C.: The Afro-American Co. March 29, 1977. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
  13. ^ "Lusia Harris-Stewart Bio". Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on September 19, 2015. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  14. ^ "PAST HONDA SPORTS AWARD WINNERS FOR BASKETBALL". THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards Program. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
  15. ^ "Lusia Harris-Stewart Bio". Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on August 6, 2010. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  16. ^ The women's sports encyclopedia. Markel, Robert., Waggoner, Susan., Smith, Marcella (Marcella Ann) (1st ed.). New York: H. Holt. 1997. p. 8. ISBN 0-8050-4494-9. OCLC 36640667.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  17. ^ r2WPadmin. "Lusia Harris-Stewart". Mississippi Encyclopedia. Retrieved March 30, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ Shackleford, Susan; Grundy, Pam (March 2007). Shattering the Glass: The Remarkable History of Women's Basketball. The University of North Carolina Press. p. 163. ISBN 978-0-8078-5829-5.
  19. ^ Proudfoot, Ben (January 12, 2023). "Opinion | She Made History as a Black Basketball Star. Why Won't Her College Name Its Arena for Her?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  20. ^ "Women's Basketball Finest" (PDF). fs.ncaa.org. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  21. ^ "Seventh World Championship for Women – 1975". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on May 25, 2013. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  22. ^ "Seventh Pan American Games – 1975". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  23. ^ "USA Women's Basketball vs Soviet Union, 1976 Summer Olympics". Sports Illustrated/Gettyimages.com. October 9, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  24. ^ "First-ever women's cage action today". Bangor Daily News. Bangor, Maine: Bangor Publishing Company. July 19, 1976. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
  25. ^ "Games of the XXIst Olympiad – 1976". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on September 14, 2010. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  26. ^ Kim, Randy (June 19, 2003). "Draft Oddities". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on June 21, 2003. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  27. ^ Simpson, Kevin (February 10, 1985). "Denise Long, the Patron Saint of Girls Basketball, Is Now 33". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 25, 2010.
  28. ^ a b Porter, Karra (2006). Mad seasons: the story of the first Women's Professional Basketball League, 1978–1981. University of Nebraska Press. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-8032-8789-1. Retrieved August 25, 2010.
  29. ^ Luhm, Steve (June 20, 2009). "NBA draft: Jazz draft woman in '77". El Paso Times. MediaNews Group. Archived from the original on June 29, 2012. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  30. ^ "1977 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  31. ^ Maynard, Chris (June 12, 2009). "Former Lady Statesmen Lusia Harris-Stewart featured in Women's Hoops Pioneers". Delta State University. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  32. ^ Blevins, Dave (2012). "Lusia Harris-Stewart". The Sports Hall of Fame Encyclopedia: Baseball, Basketball, Football, Hockey. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9781461673705.
  33. ^ Remembering A Legend
  34. ^ Sandomir, Richard (January 20, 2022). "Lusia Harris, 'Queen of Basketball,' Dies at 66". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  35. ^ a b "Canadian director's Oscar-nominated film shines a light on 'Queen of Basketball' Lusia Harris". Day 6. CBC Radio. March 20, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  36. ^ "Lusia Harris-Stewart Bio". Delta State University. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  37. ^ "Women's Basketball Legend Lusia Harris-Stewart To Be Honored Tuesday Night". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. February 26, 2007. Archived from the original on December 3, 2010. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  38. ^ "Conradt Leads 26 Inductees". The New York Times. November 16, 1998. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  39. ^ "NBA greats O'Neal, Curry win Oscar for documentary on basketball legend Lusia Harris". CBC Sports. The Associated Press. March 27, 2022. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
  40. ^ ""The Queen Of Basketball" Documentary to Premiere on NYTimes.com on June 29". The New York Times Company. June 14, 2021. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
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