Lionel Harris...A Team Mate and Friend

This one hurt. It put everything I was thinking about to the back and this has consumed me for over a week. I learned from former Hurricanes teammates that Lionel Harris had passed away in September. I read his obituary in the Washington Post. It really seems unfair that someones life is shortened to a couple paragraphs.

Lionel stepped onto the court at Miami and right away, you noticed his smoothness. He seemed to glide, but try to guard him and he blew right by you. He blew right by everyone. He slammed effortlessly on the goal, without the help of breakaway rims. In those days Miami had the worst of facilities, but players came there for the reputation of the program during Rick Barry's days when the Hurricanes were known for a flashy running style.

Many of the ABA pros came to play on campus during the off season at our gorgeous facility, the armory, seating capacity zero, with all the amenities including no air conditioning. I saw a lot of the glamor boys go head up with Lionel, and generally, they got schooled...even though he was a freshman and they were highly drafted pros. It would be a theme that would be repeated often during Lionel's short stay in Miami.

Lionel was good. What was better was that Lionel was humble and non pretentious off the court. What stood out to me was his smile, and when I saw it in his obituary it made me almost break down. Lionel said hi to everyone...not just the jocks, but everyone. He was popular and loved! When Lionel first came to Miami, we all looked at his yearbook...we did that with everyone. Lionel's yearbook was unique because it was dedicated to the principal of Cardoza High School, his alma mater. We asked why and he said he was killed during a holdup of the school bookstore. Lionel made it out and was a symbol of pride for his community.

At the bottom of the blog I will post some links that will give some highlights of his life. Lionel was one of the 100 best DC basketball players of all time. This is a great honor, because the Nations Capitol is one of the hotbeds for schoolboy basketball and recruiting. In fact, one link by Harold Bell sums up Lionel's' career nicely:

I attended Tommy’s wake on Thursday and attended Lionel Harris’ wake the next day. Lionel was also a first team All-Met basketball player at Cardozo High School in 1969-70.

I first met Lionel in 1968 when I became the assistant coach (wide receivers) for the Cardozo football team as a favor to my teammate, head coach, Bob Headen. Bob and I played against each other in high school and college and became teammates on the Virginia Sailors (a minor league team for the NFL Washington Redskins). Bob talked a half-dozen other Sailor teammates into volunteering their services. Cardozo football and basketball teams were top contenders in the West in the late 60s.

The classy Harold Dean was the head basketball coach during that era and Lionel Harris and Big Michael Jackson were the glue that held the “Clerks” together. They went into every game thinking that they could win and most times they did.

Lionel’s friend and classmate Earl Boone made sure his home going did not go unnoticed. During the wake he read letters from former DC Public Schools student/athlete (Dunbar) DC Mayor Vincent Gray and a basketball player wanna-be, President Barack Obama. We all should be so lucky to have the two leaders of the Nation’s Capitol say “Great Game!”

Lionel later transferred to Cincinnati where he started immediately. After Cincy, he was chosen in the first round of the NBA Supplemental Draft where he went to the 76ers. After he was cut, he never pursued a pro career. However, Lionel did keep playing and was voted the MVP in 1975 of the Urban Coalition Summer League. This was a league of active pros and collegians with fierce competition. Lionel was a legend around DC and schooled countless pros. This hit me as very refreshing, because here is a guy playing for the love of the game and playing at the highest level. There is so much to be said for that. It is a rare quality in the modern "show me the money"era.

Lionel, I remember when you had to be restrained because you were ready pounce on Artis Gilmore in a game...you were only giving up 12 inches and a hundred pounds, but that didn't scare you. Lionel symbolized the ultimate teammate you wanted to go into battle.

Tragedy hit Lionel hard. In the late 80's, his son, Lionel Junior, a scholar, wrote a paper on random violence in the Washington area. The paper earned critical reviews, but the day after the paper was published, Lionel Junior was gunned down while waiting for a bus in a random act of violence. This story made headlines in USA today. Most parents cannot and do not want to imagine this kind of tragedy.

Lionel, we loved and respected you and we will all remember your smile. May you find peace on the big court in the sky.

http://dcbasketball.wordpress.com/page/2/
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/washingtonpost/obituary.aspx?n=lionel-r-harris&pid=153638943&fhid=2193