Billy "The Kid" Harris (November 12, 1951 – January 3, 2010) was an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. Billy Harris grew up in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, where he earned a reputation as a

streetball Streetball (or street basketball) is a variation of basketball, typically played on outdoor courts and featuring significantly less formal structure and enforcement of the game's rules. As such, its format is more conducive to allowing players ...

star. A prolific long-range scorer, he was nicknamed "

Billy the Kid Henry McCarty (September 17 or November 23, 1859July 14, 1881), alias William H. Bonney, better known as Billy the Kid, was an American outlaw and gunfighter of the Old West who was linked to nine murders: four for which he was solely res ...

" and "Shotgun".Taylor Bell. "'The Kid', a Chicago legend, dies at 58". ''Chicago Sun-Times''. January 4, 2010. 44. Scoop Jackson of the magazine ''

SLAM Slam, SLAM or SLAMS may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional elements * S.L.A.M. (Strategic Long-Range Artillery Machine), a fictional weapon in the ''G.I. Joe'' universe * SLAMS (Space-Land-Air Missile Shield), a fictional anti-ball ...

'' later dubbed him the best playground basketball player ever. "No one has ever claimed to have seen, heard about or witnessed Billy having a bad game. Not one story, not one game," wrote Jackson.Scoop Jackson.
Ghetto Superstar
. ''Slam''. 1998. Retrieved on January 5, 2010. Harris graduated from Dunbar High School in Chicago in 1969; he averaged a team-high 33 points per game as a senior. After being recruited by many colleges, including the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

, he played at

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois, United States. It was founded as "Northern Illinois State Normal School" in 1895 by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld, initially to provide the state with c ...

from 1969 to 1973. During his junior season at NIU, he led the team to a 21–4 record, which was good enough for NIU to be ranked in the national top 20 for the first time in school history. Harris tallied 17.8 points per game that season, and 24.1 points per game the next season. After college, Billy Harris was drafted by the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

in the seventh round of the

1973 NBA draft The 1973 NBA draft was the 27th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 24 and May 5, 1973, before the 1973–74 season. In this draft, 17 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college baske ...

. However, he did not make the team, and instead played in the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

with the

San Diego Conquistadors The San Diego Conquistadors (known as the San Diego Sails in their final, partial season) were a professional basketball team based in San Diego, California, that competed in the American Basketball Association (ABA). The "Q's", as they were popul ...

and in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. Later in his life, Billy Harris coached basketball for young people in his Chicago neighborhood and became a car salesman.Angie Leventis Lourgos and Daarel Burnette. "Billy Harris, 1951–2010: NIU basketball hall of famer". ''Chicago Tribune''. January 4, 2010. Retrieved on January 5, 2010. He was inducted into the Northern Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001Mike Korcek.
Memorial Services for NIU Hall of Famer Bill 'The Kid' Harris set for Friday, Jan. 8
. NIUHuskies.com. January 4, 2010. Retrieved on January 5, 2010. and the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2002. On January 3, 2010, Harris died of a stroke at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago. He is survived by his six children, eight bonus children, three brothers, one sister, and many grandchildren.

References

External links

at basketball-reference.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Billy 1951 births 2010 deaths American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American men's basketball players Basketball players from Chicago Chicago Bulls draft picks Dunbar Vocational High School alumni Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball players San Antonio Spurs draft picks San Diego Conquistadors players Street basketball players