Harris, "Lucy" (Lusia M.)
Basketball
b. Feb. 10, 1955, Minter City, MS
The first woman drafted by a men's professional basketball team, Harris was a three-time All-American at Delta State University in Mississippi, in 1975, 1976, and 1977, as Delta State won the AIAW championship all three years. The 6-foot-3, 185-pound center scored 1,060 points in 1976-77, averaging 31.2 a game, with a high of 58 points against Tennessee Tech. She also averaged 15 rebounds a game.
During her career, she scored 2,981 points, an average of 25.9 per game, and had 1,662 rebounds, an average of 14.4 a game.
Harris became Delta State's first black homecoming queen in 1975, a year in which she starred for the U. S. teams in the World University Games and the Pan-American Games. She also played for the 1976 silver medal Olympic team.
In 1977, Harris won the Broderick Award as the nation's best collegiate basketball player and the Honda Broderick cup as the best collegiate athlete in any sport. She was chosen by the New Orleans Jazz in the seventh round of the 1977 NBA draft, but made no effort to play for the team. She did play for the Houston Angels in Women's Professional Basketball League in 1980, but left because of pregnancy.
She later returned to Delta State as admissions counselor and assistant basketball coach while studying for her master's degree, which she received in 1984. She went on to become a high school teacher and coach.