Herman B. Harris (born December 1953) is an American former professional

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.

Playing career

Harris played basketball at Chester High School in his hometown of

Chester, Pennsylvania Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the Philadelphia metropolitan area (also known as the Delaware Valley) on the western bank of the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware. ...

. He was lightly recruited despite being one of the leading prospects of his college recruiting class, which Harris attributed to scouts avoiding the city of Chester and its high crime rate. Harris impressed a scout from the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

in 1972 by being able to dunk while in a cast for his broken left foot, which led to a basketball scholarship offer from the university. He was named a ''Parade'' All-American during his high school senior year in 1973. Harris began his career with the

Arizona Wildcats The Arizona Wildcats are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Divis ...

as a reserve player. He had a breakthrough year during his senior season in 1976–77 when he was named a member of the first-team in the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

(WAC). Harris scored a career-high in points with 35 against the

Utah Utes The Utah Utes are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Utah, located in Salt Lake City. The athletic department is named after the Ute tribe of Native Americans in the Unite ...

on January 20, 1977, then tied his record when he scored the same amount against the

BYU Cougars The BYU Cougars are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Brigham Young University (BYU), located in Provo, Utah. BYU fields 21 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) varsity athletic teams. They are a member of the Big 12 C ...

two days later. Harris was selected as the 43rd overall pick in the

1977 NBA draft The 1977 NBA draft was the 31st annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 10, 1977, before the 1977–78 season. In this draft, 22 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball player ...

by the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

but he never played in 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 ...

(NBA). He began his career with the

Anchorage Northern Knights The Anchorage Northern Knights were a professional basketball team based in Anchorage, Alaska from 1977 to 1982. The team played in the Eastern Basketball Association (EBA) during the 1977–78 season. The next season, the league changed its name ...

of the

Eastern Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA), originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association, was a men's professional basketball m ...

in the 1977–78 season. Harris played with the Montana Sky of the

Western Basketball Association The Western Basketball Association was formed in 1978 and played for one season during 1978–79. Organized by Larry Cregar, a former assistant coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and American Basketball Association (ABA), and real ...

(WBA) during the league's only season in 1978–79. In 1979–80, he played for SSV Hagen of the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

in Germany.

Later life

Harris spent 14 years in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

and worked for 20 years at the

Pima County Courthouse Pima County Courthouse is the former main county courthouse building in downtown Tucson, Arizona It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was designed by Roy Place in 1928 in Mission Revival architecture, Mission Revival and ...

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

. He elected to return to the University of Arizona in 2011 to finish his degree, which he had not completed when he left for his NBA attempt. Harris received his diploma in 2017.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 1973–74 , style="text-align:left;",

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, 21 , , – , , – , , .480 , , .500 , , – , , 3.8 , , – , , – , , – , , 7.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1974–75 , style="text-align:left;",

, 13 , , – , , – , , .468 , , .700 , , – , , 3.9 , , – , , – , , – , , 8.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1975–76 , style="text-align:left;",

, 32 , , – , , – , , .453 , , .524 , , – , , 3.8 , , – , , – , , – , , 10.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1976–77 , style="text-align:left;",

, 27 , , – , , 33.9 , , .461 , , .760 , , – , , 4.0 , , 2.8 , , 1.7 , , .2 , , 20.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 93 , , – , , 33.9 , , .461 , , .659 , , – , , 3.8 , , 2.8 , , 1.7 , , .2 , , 12.5

References

External links

College statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Herman Date of birth missing (living people) Living people American expatriate basketball people in Germany American men's basketball players Anchorage Northern Knights players Arizona Wildcats men's basketball players Chester High School alumni Philadelphia 76ers draft picks Point guards Shooting guards Sportspeople from Chester, Pennsylvania Basketball players from Delaware County, Pennsylvania Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century African-American sportsmen