Boo Harvey
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Greg "Boo" Harvey (born October 1, 1966) is an American former basketball player who is best known for his collegiate career at St. John's University between 1987–88 and 1989–90. He starred as the
point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...
for the Redmen, and as a
senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...
was the recipient of both the
Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award The Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award was an annual college basketball award in the United States intended to honor players who excelled on the court in spite of their height. The award, named in honor of James Naismith's daughter-in-law, was establi ...
and
Haggerty Award __NOTOC__ The Lt. Frank J. Haggerty Award is given to the top men's college basketball player from an NCAA Division I school in the New York metropolitan area. The Haggerty Award is presented by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MB ...
.


Early life

Harvey was born in
Queens, New York Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...
. He made a name for himself on the courts in New York City, throughout the
Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...
(AAU) circuit, and at Andrew Jackson High School. Harvey started as a
freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...
, and in his four-year career he led AJHS to an 88–7 record. They reached the city finals three times and were champions once. Harvey averaged 38 points per game as a senior in 1984–85 and finished his career with a school record 2,039 points. This record cannot be broken due to Andrew Jackson High School's closure in 1994.


College


San Jacinto

After high school, Harvey wanted to attend
Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...
to play basketball. His poor academic performance, however, prevented him from being allowed to enroll. In order to boost his grades to qualify for academic eligibility, Harvey decided to play
junior college A junior college is a type of post-secondary institution that offers vocational and academic training that is designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations or support roles in professions such as engineering, a ...
basketball at
San Jacinto College San Jacinto College () is a public community college in the Greater Houston area, with its campuses in Pasadena and Houston, Texas. Established in 1961, San Jacinto College originally consisted of the independent school districts (ISD) of Chan ...
in
Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...
,
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
. In his two seasons at San Jacinto, a national powerhouse in men's basketball, the team won back-to-back Region XIV titles and compiled an overall record of 73–1. In 1985–86, Harvey's freshman year, they became the fourth team in
NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) is the governing association of community college, State college (disambiguation), state college, and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 sepa ...
history to go undefeated and win the national championship.


St. John's

After his stint in Texas, Harvey went back to Queens in 1987. He said that the time spent away from home made him homesick, which is why he decided to attend St. John's University instead of Syracuse. The school is located in Queens, making the decision easy for him. Harvey also admitted that St. John's did not recruit him while he was in high school because they already had
Mark Jackson Mark A. Jackson (born April 1, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who was a point guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the St. John's Red Storm and was selected by the New ...
at the
point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...
position. By the time he returned in 1987, the Redmen had a spot available for him, so he jumped on the opportunity. Harvey started as a
junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...
in 1987–88. He averaged 11.9 and 4.8 assists in 27 games played, but failed to show any
shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missile ...
range, connecting on only 15-of-39 three-point attempts. Harvey did not thrive playing in a half-court offense, something he later said he found difficult to do. In what should have been his senior season in 1988–89, Harvey was forced to sit out due to academic ineligibility from the year before. He was also suspended for one game by the
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
for playing in an unsanctioned summer league game. A referee was killed by a player toward the end of that game over a disputed call. Despite being forced to miss the season, Harvey retained his NCAA athlete eligibility to finish his career the following year. He also credited his year off as a catalyst for his understanding of how to run a half-court offense by being forced to watch it daily. Entering his final season in 1989–90, Harvey was ''Sport Magazines 12th-ranked senior point guard in the country. Towards the end of the season, however, he had climbed as high as third on the list. When fellow senior teammate
Jayson Williams Jayson Williams (born February 22, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 11 seasons, primarily with the New Jersey Nets. He played his first three seasons with the ...
went down with an injury, Harvey stepped up and averaged 23.4 points and shot 20-of-44 from three-point range. Earlier in the season, he hit three buzzer-beating, game-winning shots: beating DePaul, 55–54 on November 22; beating Georgetown 63–62 on February 21; and beating
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
, 76–75 on February 26. He also increased his scoring average to 16.5 points while leading the Redmen to a 24–10 overall record. They made it to the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament before losing to
Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...
. Harvey was honored with both the
Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award The Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award was an annual college basketball award in the United States intended to honor players who excelled on the court in spite of their height. The award, named in honor of James Naismith's daughter-in-law, was establi ...
, which is given to the best men's basketball player who is or shorter, and the
Haggerty Award __NOTOC__ The Lt. Frank J. Haggerty Award is given to the top men's college basketball player from an NCAA Division I school in the New York metropolitan area. The Haggerty Award is presented by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MB ...
, given to the best male collegiate basketball player in the greater New York City area.


Professional

Despite a standout college career, Harvey was not drafted by the
National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
, nor did he ever make a final roster. Harvey played in Greece for Philippos Thessaloniki during the 1990–91 season; in Jyvaskyla, Finland for HoNsU B.C. during the 1991–92 season; and in Wels, Austria for
Trodat B.C. Trodat, Inc. is an Austrian multinational company which claims to be the world's largest manufacturer of rubber stamps (base sales). Trodat has its company headquarters in Wels, Austria, and employs more than 1,000 people worldwide. History Tro ...
from 1992 to 1995, where he was the 1995 MVP of the Austrian League All-Star game.


References


External links


Finnish League profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, Boo 1966 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Austria American expatriate basketball people in Finland American expatriate basketball people in Greece American men's basketball players Andrew Jackson High School (Queens) alumni Philippos Thessaloniki B.C. players Point guards San Jacinto Central Ravens men's basketball players Basketball players from Queens, New York St. John's Red Storm men's basketball players 20th-century American sportsmen