Remembering Lusia Harris, the first black woman inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame

“We’ve had a lot of wonderful coaches, and we’ve had a lot of great players, but one player who gave us international respect was Lucy Harris.”

Pat Summitt, Legendary Tennessee Basketball Coach

In life, all Lusia Harris wanted was to be recognized.

Ten days after her death, Harris is being showered with compliments and praise that she should have received while she was alive.

“It’s sad that she has to be recognized after she’s dead,” said Gail Marquis, a teammate of Harris’s on the historic 1976 U.S. Women’s Olympic basketball team. “In death, you get to see the champions. You get to see the champions. to see her legacies. It would have been nice if she could have smelled the coffee a little more or listened to the songs when she was still here, living with us.”

Lusia Harris Stewart passed away on January 18 at the age of 66. As a star at Delta State from 1973 to 1977, Harris was the untamed force in women’s basketball when the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) ruled it. Harris helped lay the groundwork for the growth of women’s basketball. Harris guided the Lady Statesmen to three consecutive AIAW Championships.

“She was quietly effective,” Marquis said this week. “No provocations, zero. Almost shy at times.” Added Marquis: “She wasn’t flashy. At halftime, you’d look at the stats and wonder how she got 20 points, how she got 10 rebounds. There was no style. There were no fists in the air. Zero chest punches. Zero high-fives. . She was just a worker carrying a bucket. She was quiet; she didn’t throw flowers herself.”

Marquis, a star player at Queens College, faced Harris in February 1976 when Delta State faced Queens College at Madison Square Garden in New York. Harris scored 47 points as Delta State crushed Queens College, 81-58. Marquis called the team an educational experience for the entire team.

“We all learned from her,” Marquis said. “We thought we were good, so we saw the next level of basketball, and we weren’t there. She affected so many players. Whether we got to see her or play against her, you had to raise your game.”

A week later, Marquis and Harris became teammates on the historic 1976 United States Women’s Olympic team. That was the first year women’s basketball would be played at the Olympics. Harris made history by scoring the first two points of that Olympic competition.

“Lucy scored the first two points. Her teammates jumped on her back to celebrate the moment. Harris was normally unmoved.

“She wasn’t punching the air or doing a dance or calling for the ball,” Marquis recalled. “She just kept going. I think humility is what made her an almost everyday player. She didn’t have to be the star of the entire team, although she was the star of the team.”

The 6-foot-3, 185-pound Harris was stocky, fast and strong. “She wasn’t fat. She wasn’t flabby,” Marquis said. “She was the All-American among All-Americans.”

One of the most memorable moments of my career came in 2005 when I met Harris at his home in Greenville, Mississippi.

We talked about various topics, mostly about her life in basketball, her legacy and how she had been overlooked. By then, women’s basketball had exploded at the college and professional levels. At the collegiate level, the University of Tennessee had become a force. So the WNBA, formed in 1996, was a powerful showcase for women’s professional basketball. My visit to Mississippi was prompted by the WNBA All-Star Game, which was held in New York in 2003. During a tribute to women’s basketball, a screen showed images of the pioneers of women’s sports. There was no mention of Harris. Nancy Lieberman, Carol Blazejowski, Ann Meyers. Zero mention of Harris, who was a more pivotal figure than any of them.

Harris told me in her subtle way that she had gotten used to being overlooked. “It used to bother me, but not anymore,” she said during our visit. She told me that she kept up with the league and looked up to the players. “It would have been nice to be a part of it,” she said.

Harris was born in Minter City, Mississippi, the tenth of 11 children – six girls, five boys. She played basketball in high school but never expected to play in college. She had plans to attend Alcorn State, which did not have a basketball team, and be a teacher.

She was recruited to Delta State by an admissions counselor who told her the school was starting a women’s basketball program. Harris wanted to play basketball, so she decided to go to Delta State. She made Delta State a national power, though she would be the only black player at Delta State during her four years at the school.

In 1977, Harris became the first player to be drafted by an NBA team when the New Orleans Jazz selected her in the seventh round. Harris never considered going because she believed the selection was for publicity only. However, she did play in the short-lived Women’s Professional Basketball League. When the league failed, she returned to Delta State and worked as an assistant to coach Margaret Wade. When Wade retired, Harris was passed over for the coaching job as the school hired a white man to coach the team.

Harris told me during my visit that she was despondent after not being asked to coach. She dropped out of Delta State and accepted the position of women’s basketball coach at Texas Southern. The program lacked resources and institutional commitment. On top of that, she already had a son and was pregnant with twin girls. After two seasons, she was fired.

Harris’s legacy was already assured. She was part of the foundation of what exists today as women’s sports, in general, and basketball in particular.

Marquis said Harris knew she was a role model and example for young girls. She knew that she was a role model for young black women. “She was an example to so many, part of a generation that played for the love of the game. She could inspire people who weren’t basketball players, who weren’t athletes,” Marquis said. “All of us worked hard and humbly went our way, happy to have an education, happy to be able to make our parents proud. She exemplified that.”

It would have been great if Harris had run shows or thrown flowers years ago, but she has a special place in her home state. Marquis remembers going to Mississippi when one of Harris’s twin daughters got married. “As I walk through the airport, there are posters of her,” Marquis recalled, referring to Harris. “She was known, and her status recognized her.”

Harris became the first black woman inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992. In 1999, she was one of 26 inducted into the inaugural class of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.

Funeral services for Harris will be held at Delta State on February 5. But if Delta State really wants to recognize Harris, the university should erect a statue in his honor. A statue would commemorate how a modest young woman from Minter City put the school on the map. It would be a timeless tribute to someone who simply wanted to be recognized.