02/01/2023
This is Lusia Harris, pioneer of women’s basketball, coach, educator, mother, and legend of the sport. Today we’re honoring her story and legacy in celebration of Black History Month and National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
The daughter of sharecroppers, Lusia “Lucy” Harris was born and raised in Minter City, Mississippi, one of eleven children. As a girl, she idolized Bill Russel, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Oscar Robertson (who was her favorite), and played on a hoop with the kids in her neighborhood. But she learned the game for real at Amanda Elzy High School, where she developed into team captain and an unstoppable player. She went on to an historic college career, winning back-to-back-to-back national titles at Delta State University. Lusia was a first-team All-American and finished her college career with a 109-6 record while averaging 25.9 points and 14.5 rebounds per game. She was the only Black player on the Delta State team.
After college, Lusia represented the United States at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. It was the first women’s Olympic basketball tournament, and the US won a silver medal. In 1977, Lusia became the only women ever officially drafted into the NBA when she was selected in the seventh round by the New Orleans Jazz. In 1992, she became the first Black woman inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame (with Oscar Robertson as her presenter).
Among other things, Lusia is remembered as one of the best women to ever play basketball, despite playing in an era before there were real professional opportunities for women in the sport. She is the subject of the documentary The Queen of Basketball.
