Celebrating Black History Month: Lusia Harris
In an effort to celebrate Black History Month, the Gulf South Conference will share the stories and accomplishments of past student-athletes from member institutions.
Lusia "Lucy" Harris has long been considered a pioneer and one of the greatest centers to ever play women’s basketball. A native of Minter City, Miss., Harris played for Delta State University from 1973-77, helping DSU win three-consecutive AIAW national titles from 1975 to 1977. During her collegiate career, she played 115 games, averaged 25.9 points and 14.4 rebounds. Harris is still the school’s all-time leader in scoring (2,981 points) and rebounds (1,662).
Harris also experienced success on the international stage as she represented the United States in the 1975 FIBA World Championship, won gold that year in the Pan American Games, before going to Montreal in 1976, as women’s basketball made its Olympic debut. During the Summer Games, Harris scored the first points in the first game of the tournament against Japan. Team USA ultimately won a silver medal, with Harris leading the team in scoring and rebounds.
After winning her third national title with Delta State, Harris again made history as the first woman to be successfully drafted into the NBA, as the New Orleans Jazz selected her during 1977 during the seventh round. Harris however never played in the NBA, deciding to start a family with her husband George.
In 1992, Lusia Harris-Stewart became the first Black woman and first female college player inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. In 1999, Harris was then inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, before becoming the seventh basketball inductee in 2005 to the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame, joining Pat Summitt, Tara VanDerveer, and Margaret Wade, amongst others.
Harris graduated with a bachelor’s degree in health, physical education, and recreation in 1977 and later earned a master’s degree in special education in 1984. She worked as an admissions counselor and assistant women’s basketball coach at Delta State, before a brief tenure as head coach at Texas Southern University. She eventually returned to Mississippi and taught special education and coached high school basketball.
Harris is also the subject of a 2021 short documentary
“The Queen of Basketball”, that was directed by Ben Proudfoot and gained national attention at the annual Tribeca Film Festival.