Lusia Harris facts for kids
Harris as a senior at Delta State
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | February 10, 1955 Minter City, Mississippi, US |
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| Died | January 18, 2022 (aged 66) Mound Bayou, Mississippi, US |
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| High school | Amanda Elzy (Greenwood, Mississippi) |
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| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 185 lb (84 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Career information | ||||||||||||||||||||
| College | Delta State (1973–1977) | |||||||||||||||||||
| NBA Draft | 1977 / Round: 7 / Pick: 137th overall | |||||||||||||||||||
| Selected by the New Orleans Jazz | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Pro career | 1979–1980 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Career history | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1979–1980 | Houston Angels | |||||||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Medals
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Lusia Mae Harris (born February 10, 1955 – died January 18, 2022) was an amazing American basketball player. Many people see her as one of the first big stars in women's basketball. She played for Delta State University and helped her team win three straight national championships from 1975 to 1977. These were called the AIAW National Championships, which were like the NCAA championships before the NCAA took over.
Lusia also played for the U.S. national team. She won a silver medal at the 1976 Olympic Games, which was the first time women's basketball was played at the Olympics. She even played professional basketball for the Houston Angels. What's really special is that she was the first and only woman ever officially picked in the draft by an NBA team, which is a men's professional league. Because of her many achievements, Lusia Harris is in both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.
Contents
Early Life and Basketball Beginnings
Lusia Mae Harris was born in Minter City, Mississippi. She was one of eleven children, and her parents were Ethel and Willie Harris. Her father was a sharecropper, meaning he farmed land owned by someone else. Lusia was the tenth child and the fourth of five daughters. All her brothers and one older sister, Janie, also loved playing basketball.
Lusia played basketball in high school under coach Conway Stewart. She was a fantastic player, winning the MVP award three years in a row. She was also the team captain and made the state All-Star team. In one game, she scored a school record 46 points! She led her high school team to the state tournament in Jackson, Mississippi.
After high school, Lusia wanted to go to Alcorn State University, but they didn't have a women's basketball team. Luckily, a coach named Melvin Hemphill convinced her to play for Margaret Wade at Delta State University. Delta State was just starting its women's basketball team again. Lusia went to Delta State with a mix of academic scholarships and money from a work-study program. This was before Title IX, a law that helped make sports more equal for girls and women in schools.
College Basketball Success
In her first year at Delta State (1973–74), Lusia helped the Lady Statesmen get a great record of 16 wins and 2 losses. However, they didn't make it to the national tournament that year.
The next season, 1974–75, the Lady Statesmen made it to the national tournament. They reached the final game where they played against Immaculata University, a team that had won the last three championships. Lusia Harris was amazing in the final, scoring 32 points and grabbing 16 rebounds. She led Delta State to a 90–81 victory! This championship game was shown on TV across the country, which was a big deal for women's basketball. That season, Delta State had a perfect record of 28 wins and 0 losses. Lusia was named the tournament's most valuable player.
In the 1975–76 season, Delta State and Immaculata met again in the national final. Lusia once again led her team to victory with 30 points and 18 rebounds. Delta State won 69–64. That year, Lusia was the top scorer in the nation, averaging 31.2 points per game. She even scored 58 points in one game against Tennessee Tech!
During her senior year (1976–77), Delta State played a game at Madison Square Garden, a famous arena in New York City. Lusia scored 47 points in that game, which was one of the first women's basketball games ever played there. In 1977, Delta State reached the national tournament final for the third year in a row. Lusia scored 23 points and had 16 rebounds as Delta State beat Louisiana State University 68–55. This gave them their third straight national title!
Lusia was named the national tournament's most valuable player for the third time. She was also chosen for the All-American first team in all three of Delta State's championship seasons. Her college team record was an incredible 109 wins and only 6 losses. She played against and beat many teams that would later become very strong in women's college basketball. Lusia finished her college career with 2,981 points and 1,662 rebounds. This means she averaged 25.9 points and 14.5 rebounds per game. She also held 15 of Delta State's 18 team, single-game, and career records. In 1977, she won the first-ever Honda Sports Award for basketball and the Broderick Cup, which is given to outstanding female college athletes.
Playing for Team USA
In 1975, Lusia Harris was chosen to play for the U.S. national team. She played in the FIBA World Championship in Colombia and the Pan American Games in Mexico City. She played alongside other future stars like Nancy Lieberman, Ann Meyers, and Pat Head. At the Pan American Games, the U.S. team won all seven of their games and took home the gold medal. This was their first gold medal in basketball since 1963.
The next year, Lusia was picked to represent the United States at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada. This was a historic moment because it was the first time women's basketball was included in the Olympic Games! Lusia wore the number seven on her jersey. In the very first game against Japan, Lusia Harris scored the first points ever in a women's Olympic basketball tournament. The U.S. team won three games but lost two, earning the silver medal. Lusia played in all five games, averaging 15.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.
Professional Career and NBA Draft
In 1977, something truly unique happened. The New Orleans Jazz of the NBA (a men's league) picked Lusia Harris in their draft! She was the 137th pick overall in the seventh round. This made her the first and only woman ever officially drafted by an NBA team. Another woman, Denise Long, had been drafted before, but her selection was later canceled by the league.
Lusia didn't try out for the Jazz or play in the NBA. It was later shared that she was pregnant at the time, so she couldn't attend their training camp. She was actually picked ahead of 33 male players in that draft!
Even though she didn't play in the NBA, Lusia did play professional basketball for a short time. In the 1979–80 season, she played for the Houston Angels in the Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL). She was chosen as the number one free agent by the Angels in 1978, which was the league's first year.
Life After Basketball
Lusia Harris graduated from Delta State University in 1977 with a degree in health, physical education, and recreation. After college, she worked at Delta State as an admissions counselor and an assistant basketball coach. She later earned her master's degree in education from Delta State in 1984.
After leaving Delta State, she became the head coach at Texas Southern University in Houston for two years. Then, she moved back to Mississippi, where she taught and coached at high schools. She worked at her old high school, Amanda Elzy High School, as well as in the Greenville Public School District and at Ruleville Central High School.
Lusia married George E. Stewart on February 4, 1977. They had four children: two sons and twin daughters. Lusia Harris passed away on January 18, 2022, just before her 67th birthday.
Legacy and Honors
Lusia Harris is remembered for her amazing achievements in basketball.
- In 1983, she was inducted into Delta State University's Hall of Fame.
- In 1992, she made history again by becoming the first African-American woman to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
- In 1999, Lusia was one of the first 26 people inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. Her college coach, Margaret Wade, and some of her national team teammates, Nancy Lieberman, Ann Meyers, and Pat Head, were also inducted that day.
- She has also been named to the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame.
A short film about Lusia Harris, called The Queen of Basketball, won an Academy Award in 2022. Famous basketball players Shaquille O'Neal and Stephen Curry helped produce the film. It was released in June 2021, a few months before Lusia passed away.
See also
In Spanish: Lusia Harris para niños
