Joy Holmes Harris (born March 31, 1969) is an American former basketball player. She starred at Mansfield Senior High School, her 1259 overall points were a record during 1987 and remained in the top five in 2024. At

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

, her team played in the 1988

National Women's Invitational Tournament The National Women's Invitational Tournament (NWIT) was a post-season tournament for women's intercollegiate basketball programs that was contested from 1969 to 1996. The original sponsorship information appears to have been lost over the ensuin ...

championship game and the regional semifinals of the

1990 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament The 1990 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament began on March 11 and ended on April 1. The tournament featured 48 teams. The Final Four consisted of Virginia Cavaliers, Virginia, 1989–90 Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team, Stanf ...

. During 1991, she was a

Big Ten Athlete of the Year The Big Ten Athlete of the Year award is given annually to the top male and female collegiate athletes in the Big Ten Conference. It was first awarded in 1982, with winners being selected by a panel of conference media members from nominations submi ...

and held the Purdue overall record with 1747 points. After university, Holmes played for Sekisui Harmonate in Japan until 1993. With the American Basketball League between 1997 and 1998, Holmes was with the

Seattle Reign Seattle Reign FC is an American professional soccer team based in Seattle, Washington, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2012, it is one of eight inaugural members of the NWSL. Since June 2024, the Reign ar ...

and Nashville Noise. As part of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams (scheduled to expand to 15 in 2026). The WNBA is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The WNBA w ...

, Holmes was a member of the

Detroit Shock The Detroit Shock were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. They were the 2003, 2006, and 2008 WNBA champions. Debuting in 1998, the Shock were one of the league's first expansion franchises. Th ...

in 2000. As an assistant coach, she worked for the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

Middle Tennessee State University Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU or MT) is a Public university, public research university in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Founded in 1911 as a normal school, the university consists of eight Undergraduate education, undergraduate colleges as ...

and

Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) was a public university from 1969 to 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It was a collaboration between Indiana University and Purdue University system, Purdue University, of ...

by 2004. Holmes Harris became part of the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.

Early life and education

Joy Holmes was born in

Mansfield, Ohio Mansfield is a city in Richland County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 47,534 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located approximately from Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, Columbus via Interstate 71, it i ...

, on March 31, 1969. During her childhood, she lived with four siblings and was interested in

scouting Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

. Holmes became a basketball player while in elementary school. With Mansfield Senior High School, she was on their volleyball team during the 1980s. As an athlete, she entered the 1986 Ohio championship as a Class AAA competitor. At the event, she competed in the 300 meter hurdles and reached the heats. On the basketball team, they were regional finalists for the Class AAA division held by the

Ohio High School Athletic Association The Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) is the governing body of athletic programs for junior and senior high schools in the state of Ohio. The OHSAA governs eligibility of student athletes, resolves disputes, organizes levels of comp ...

in 1987. She was also named All-Ohio by ''The Associated Press'' during 1986 and 1987. After setting a school record with 1259 overall points in 1987, her points remained in the top five during 2024. With

, Holmes was playing basketball in 1987. At the 1988

, her team reached the championship game. By 1989, Holmes was nicknamed "the Magnet from Mansfield". Her team reached the regional semifinals at the

. At Purdue, Holmes had the most season points once and most season steals three times. In overall statistics, Holmes led the university with 323 steals and 1747 points during 1991. Her points record was broken that year and her steals remained in first until 2001. During 2023, she was eighth in points and third in steals for Purdue. Apart from basketball, Holmes studied

telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

Career

Playing career

As part of the North basketball team, they finished first at the 1989 U.S. Olympic Festival. She decided to not compete at the

World University Games The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau of the words "Universi ...

after receiving a spot in 1991. That year, Holmes joined a basketball team in Japan for

Sekisui Chemical Sekisui Chemical is a Plastics manufacturer with head offices in Osaka and Tokyo. The company owns a plethora of subsidiaries engaged in a variety of businesses. Sekisui has over 27,000 employees in more than eighteen countries worldwide. Hist ...

. She played for the Sekisui Harmonate until " heleague... annedAmerican players" during 1993. In 1996, Holmes Harris was drafted to play in the American Basketball League. That year, she wanted to join the

after she declined her offer from the

. She considered joining the

Columbus Quest The Columbus Quest was a professional women's basketball franchise located in Columbus, Ohio, in the now-defunct American Basketball League (ABL). They were one of the league's original eight teams that started play in 1996. In the league's b ...

after being drafted again by the Reign in 1997. Holmes played with the Reign from 1997 to 1998. In 1998, Holmes was selected to join a new ABL team in Nashville. She played for the Nashville Noise until the closure of the ABL that year. With the two teams, she had a combined total of 211 rebounds and 299 points. In the WNBA, Holmes joined the

Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Mystics compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team was ...

during 1999 and was cut that year. During 2000, Holmes played for the

. With Detroit, Holmes had 45 rebounds as part of her 91 points that year.

Other positions

Holmes joined the

as an assistant coach in 1993. While continuing her Cincinnati position as Joy Holmes-Harris, she became an athlete advisor for Purdue during 1994. After leaving Cincinnati that year, Holmes-Harris became a "volunteer assistant coach for Lafayette Jeff's girls basketball eam" The following year, she remained in her advisor position with Purdue. In Mansfield, Holmes taught children basketball during 1998. She was hired by

in 1999 as an assistant coach. Holmes-Harris remained with MTSU until 2000. With

, she resumed her assistant experience when she joined in 2002. That year, Holmes-Harris started her

real estate agent Real estate agents and real estate brokers are people who represent sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and age ...

career. She remained at IUPUI in 2003 and had left by 2004. Holmes-Harris continued working in real estate leading up to 2017.

Career statistics

WNBA

Regular season

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Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

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College

, - , style="text-align:left;" , 1987–88 , style="text-align:left;" ,

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

, 31, , -, , -, , 58.8, , 0.0, , 60.9, , 2.3, , 0.7, , 0.8, , 0.5, , -, , 4.8 , - , style="text-align:left;" , 1988–89 , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 30, , -, , -, , 56.2, , 0.0, , 68.0, , 6.3, , 2.1, , 3.3, , 1.0, , -, , 15.7 , - , style="text-align:left;" , 1989–90 , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 30, , -, , -, , 53.4, , 25.0, , 77.2, , 7.2, , 1.6, , 3.3, , 1.4, , -, , 16.8 , - , style="text-align:left;" , 1990–91 , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 29, , -, , -, , 56.9, , 36.0, , 73.7, , 9.2, , 2.0, , 3.4, , 1.4, , -, , 21.5 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2 , Career , 120, , -, , -, , 55.9, , 30.6, , 72.1, , 6.2, , 1.6, , 2.7, , 1.1, , -, , 14.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="14", Statistics retrieved from

Sports-Reference Sports Reference, LLC is an American sports statistics company that operates databases of several sports. They include Pro Football Reference for American football, Baseball Reference for baseball, Basketball Reference for basketball, Hockey Ref ...

Honors and personal life

Between 1989 and 1991, Holmes was on consecutive All-Big Ten teams. From Purdue, Holmes was named Best Defensive Player during 1989 and Most Valuable Player in 1990. She was an MVP and Athlete of the Year during 1991. Throughout 1991, she was the Athlete of the Decade and on the All-Decade Team for the university. She was also an All-America player for Kodak and the

United States Basketball Writers Association The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) was founded in 1956 with the urging of National Collegiate Athletic Association director Walter Byers to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball. Scholarships The U ...

. In other 1991 awards, she was the

Big Ten Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Year The Big Ten Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Year is a basketball award given to the Big Ten Conference's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the Big Ten's first full season of women's basketball in 1982–83 (al ...

and was an All-Decade player. Holmes was one of the recipients of the

Big Ten Medal of Honor Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * ''Big'', a 2023 Taiwanese children's film starring Van Fan and Chie Tanaka * '' Big!'', a Discover ...

and

. From publications, she received that year's

Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball The ''Chicago Tribune'' Silver Basketball was an award presented annually by the ''Chicago Tribune'' to the men's and women's college basketball most valuable players of the Big Ten Conference each season, as voted upon by the league's coaches a ...

. In 1997, Holmes became part of the Leroy Keyes Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame. Holmes Harris joined the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016. During 2017, Purdue created bobbleheads of Holmes-Harris. She is married and has three children. Her son,

Gary Gary may refer to: *Gary (given name), a common masculine given name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name Places ;Iran * Gary, Iran, Sistan and Baluchestan Province ;United States *Gary (Tampa), Florida *Gary, Ind ...

, is a professional basketball player for the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Joy 1969 births Purdue Boilermakers women's basketball players American expatriate baseball people in Japan Seattle Reign (basketball) players Nashville Noise players Detroit Shock players Cincinnati Bearcats women's basketball coaches Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders women's basketball coaches IU Indy Jaguars women's basketball coaches All-American college women's basketball players Big Ten Athlete of the Year winners Living people American women's basketball players