Jerald B. Harkness (May 7, 1940 – August 24, 2021) was an American 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. He played for the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

of 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) and the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

of 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 ...

(ABA). Harkness played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

Loyola Ramblers The Loyola Ramblers (also called the Loyola Chicago Ramblers) are the varsity sports teams of Loyola University Chicago. Most teams compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference, which the school joined in 2022 after leaving the Missouri Valley Confere ...

, where he was

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the 1962–63 team that won the 1963 NCAA national championship. A consensus first-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

, Harkness was selected by the Knicks in the second round of the

1963 NBA draft The 1963 NBA draft was the 17th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 30 and May 7, 1963, before the 1963–64 season. In this draft, nine NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college baske ...

. He was also a

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

activist.

Early life and career

Harkness was born in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

. Before playing in the professional leagues, the Harkness was a star at

DeWitt Clinton High School DeWitt Clinton High School is a public high school located since 1929 in the Bronx borough of New York City. Opened in 1897 in Lower Manhattan as an all-boys school, it maintained that status for 86 years before becoming co-ed in 1983. From i ...

and

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic Church, ...

. At Loyola, he was a consensus first-team

and served as captain of its 1962–63 team that won the national championship. In the first round of the NCAA tournament, Loyola defeated

Tennessee Tech Tennessee Technological University (commonly referred to as Tennessee Tech) is a public research university in Cookeville, Tennessee. It was formerly known as Tennessee Polytechnic Institute, and before that as University of Dixie, the name unde ...

by 111–42, which remains the largest margin of victory (69 points) in an NCAA tournament game. In the second round, Loyola faced

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

in a historic match now known as the

Game of Change The Game of Change was a college basketball game played between the 1962–63 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team, Loyola Ramblers and the Mississippi State Bulldogs men's basketball, Mississippi State Bulldogs on March 15, 1963, during ...

. Facing Loyola's lineup with four black starters, Mississippi State defied segregationists by participating, breaking an unwritten law against Mississippi teams competing against teams with black players. Harkness was enshrined in history as he shook hands with Joe Dan Gold, the white captain of Mississippi State, prior to tip-off. In a 2013 interview, Harkness told

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

of the handshake: "The flashbulbs just went off unbelievably, and at that time, boy, I knew that this was more than just a game. This was history being made." Loyola beat Mississippi State, then sailed past

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

and

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 ...

to reach the tournament final. Loyola then upset the

Cincinnati Bearcats The Cincinnati Bearcats are the college sports, athletic teams that represent the University of Cincinnati. The teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and the Football Bowl Subdivision as members of the Big 12 Conference. The Bearcats were pr ...

in overtime to win the championship game. Harkness and the other four Loyola starters played the entire game, without substitution. He then advanced to the pros after being drafted by the

in the second round (10th pick overall) of the

. Harkness played one season ( 1963–64) with the Knicks. He spent three seasons with the Twin Cities Sailors of the NABL; in his third (and final) NABL season, he was named All-League (2nd team). The honor played a part in him securing an ABA contract with the

. He then played two seasons (1967–1969) with the

ABA ABA may refer to: Aviation * AB Aerotransport, former Scandinavian airline * IATA airport code for Abakan International Airport in Republic of Khakassia, Russia Businesses and organizations Broadcasting * Alabama Broadcasters Association, Uni ...

. Though his professional career was relatively short, he left his mark in the record books on November 13, 1967, when he hit an game-winning

buzzer beater In timed sports, a buzzer beater is a successful shot made as the clock expires at the end of a period or at the end of the game, leaving zero seconds remaining. A buzzer sounds whenever a game clock expires, hence the name "buzzer beater." In b ...

to lead the Pacers past the

Dallas Chaparrals The Dallas Chaparrals were a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA). The team moved to San Antonio, Texas, for the 1973–74 season and were renamed the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs joined the National Basketball Association ...

, 119–118. It was the longest shot in professional basketball until 2001, when

Baron Davis Baron Walter Louis Davis (born April 13, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player who is a studio analyst for the ''NBA on TNT''. He was a two-time NBA All-Star, made the All-NBA Third Team in 2004, and twice led the NBA in st ...

hit from to end the third quarter. Harkness' shot remains the longest game-winning shot ever made.

Life after basketball

Harkness became the first African-American salesman for

Quaker Oats The Quaker Oats Company, known as Quaker, is an American food conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois. As Quaker Mill Company, the company was founded in 1877 in Ravenna, Ohio. In 1881, Henry Crowell bought the company and launched a national ad ...

. In 1970, Harkness became the first African-American fundraiser in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, working for the

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit organization, nonprofit fundraising affiliates. Prior to 2015, United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public. Individual Un ...

of Greater Indianapolis. He was Indianapolis' first African-American sportscaster at

WTHR WTHR (channel 13) is a television station in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside low-power broadcasting#Television, low-power, Class A television service, Class A MeTV affiliate WALV-CD ( ...

(formerly WLWI) in the mid to late 1970s. He also devoted much of his time to

issues. He worked with the

Southern Christian Leadership Conference The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is an African Americans, African-American civil rights organization based in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. SCLC is closely associated with its first president, Martin Luther King Jr., ...

in the early 1970s, and he served as executive director of the Indianapolis chapter of 100 Black Men, a national organization dedicated to supporting and training young

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

males. Harkness died in Indianapolis on August 24, 2021, at the age of 81.

Awards and honors

Barack Obama meets 1963 Loyola Ramblers basketball team

On July 11, 2013, in the

Oval Office The Oval Office is the formal working space of the president of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C. The oval room has three lar ...

of the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

, Harkness and former Loyola teammates John Egan, Les Hunter and Ron Miller met with President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the school's 1963 national championship. To date it remains the only NCAA Division I basketball championship won by a university from the state of Illinois. In September 2013, Harkness and the entire 1963 Loyola Ramblers NCAA Championship basketball team was inducted into the

Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame The Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame, located in the Hawthorne Race Course, in Stickney/Cicero, near Chicago, honors sports greats associated with the Chicago metropolitan area. It was founded in 1979 as a trailer owned by the Olympia Brewing Compa ...

. The 1963 Loyola Ramblers were inducted in the

College Basketball Hall of Fame The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Kansas City, Missouri, is a hall of fame and museum dedicated to men's college basketball. The museum is an integral portion of the College Basketball Experience created by the Nation ...

in November 2013. In June 2013, Harkness was awarded the Muhammad Ali Athlete Award. He is a member of the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame and the Loyola Athletics Hall of Fame.

Career statistics

NBA/ABA

Source

Regular season

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New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, 5 , , 11.8 , , .433 , , , , .375 , , 1.2 , , 1.2 , , 5.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

(ABA) , 71 , , 17.5 , , .437 , , .200 , , .682 , , 2.7 , , 1.8 , , 7.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

(ABA) , 10 , , 27.2 , , .463 , , – , , .638 , , 3.4 , , 2.1 , , 9.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career (ABA) , 81 , , 18.7 , , .440 , , .200 , , .674 , , 2.8 , , 1.9 , , 7.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career (overall) , 86 , , 18.3 , , .440 , , .200 , , .665 , , 2.7 , , 1.8 , , 7.2

Playoffs

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;" !Year !Team !GP !MPG !FG% !3P% !FT% !RPG !APG !PPG , - , style="text-align:left;",

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

, style="text-align:left;",

(ABA) , 3 , , 10.7 , , .333 , , – , , 1.000 , , 1.7 , , 1.7 , , 3.3

Notes

References

External links

Dan Carpenter: Indy's Jerry Harkness lived basketball and history, in black and white
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harkness, Jerry 1940 births 2021 deaths 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen Activists for African-American civil rights All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players DeWitt Clinton High School alumni Indiana Pacers players Loyola Ramblers men's basketball players New York Knicks draft picks New York Knicks players People from Harlem Point guards Shooting guards Basketball players from Manhattan Syracuse Nationals draft picks Television anchors from Indianapolis

Early life and career

Life after basketball

Awards and honors

Career statistics

NBA/ABA

Regular season

Playoffs

Notes

References

Further reading

External links