Lusia Harris had already made basketball history by the time she was selected by the New Orleans Jazz in the seventh round of the 1977 NBA Draft with the 137th overall pick. Harris was a star of the Delta State University women’s basketball team and helped her team secure three consecutive national titles in 1975, 1976, and 1977. She had been selected for the U.S. national team in 1975. At the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, the 6-foot 3-inch center became the first player to score points in the brand-new women’s basketball event, ultimately contributing to a silver medal for the United States (the Soviet Union won gold).
However, Harris never tried out for the Jazz, nor did she ultimately play in the NBA. Recently married, she was pregnant with the first of her four children when she was drafted in 1977 and thus couldn’t attend the team’s training camp. The team's general manager, Lewis Schaffel, would later admit that the pick was essentially a publicity stunt.
Though she never played in the NBA, Harris would spend one season with the Houston Angels of the Women’s Professional Basketball League, a predecessor of the WNBA, which was founded in 1984. Following her playing career, Harris returned to Delta State as an admissions counselor and assistant basketball coach, and she also earned a master’s degree in education. She spent two years as the head coach of Texas Southern University’s women’s basketball team, then moved back to Mississippi to work as a high school teacher (while still coaching the basketball team, of course).
The life and times of the Queen of Basketball:
- Harris was born in Minter City, Mississippi in 1955, the 10th of 11 children, and showed promise in basketball from a very early age, becoming her high school team’s captain.
- Harris still holds the Delta State records in scoring (2,981 points) and rebounding (1,662 rebounds). She averaged 25.9 points and 14.4 rebounds per game during her time with the team, helping them achieve an incredible 109-6 record.
- Her achievements were recognized in 1992, when she became the first Black woman inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. She was also inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999.
- Lusia Harris passed away in her home state in January 2022, at age 66. Shortly before her death, interest in Harris was renewed thanks to the biographical documentary The Queen of Basketball, which won the 2022 Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject).
- Some might argue that Denise Long should be recognized as the first woman drafted by the NBA. However, although the San Francisco Warriors attempted to draft Long in 1969, the NBA refused to allow it, citing Long’s gender and the fact that she was straight out of high school.
