Chris Harris

Background

Foreign generations, cross-Atlantic shipping was the family trade, on both his mother"s and father"s side.

Education

Sewanhaka High School.

Career

A 6"3" guard, he was the first player from England to compete in the American National Basketball Association (National Basketball Association). Harris moved from Southampton to New York City when he was young. The game of basketball was a mystery to his relatives.

In a 2004 interview, Harris said, "My folks didn"t even know what basketball was.

I remember as a kid, I had a little basket in my back yard on dirt, but they kept telling me to play soccer. I replied, "Nope, I"m going to play basketball in the prosecuting" They were laughing at me but after a while they knew it was going to be basketball for medical "

When Harris was 18, he received a basketball scholarship to the University of Dayton, where he became a teammate of Jim Paxson, Senior, father of future National Basketball Association players Jim and John.

On March 1, 1953, Harris played every minute in Dayton"s 71-65 victory over number-one ranked Seton Hall University, scoring the game"s final point on a free throw. The loss was the first for Seton Hall in 28 games.

The 1953-1954 Flyers advanced to the National Invitation Tournament Quarterfinals, at that time the national championship of college basketball.

During his senior year, Dayton reached the National Institute of Technology Finals, but lost to Duquesne University 70-58. After graduating from college, Harris spent one season in the National Basketball Association. He originally signed with the Saint Louis Hawks, but after 15 games they traded him and Dick Ricketts to the Rochester Royals for Jack Coleman and Jack McMahon. In 41 total games with the Hawks and Royals, Harris averaged 2.5 points per game on 24.8% shooting and made $4,800.

"He was a huge jazz buff and I loved jazz music," said Harris.

"I was a huge fan. So any time we’d got to the big towns, he’d go look for the jazz club and take me with him. We had a wonderful time.

He was a gentleman."

Harris had a chance to return to the National Basketball Association the following summer, after joining a group of Dayton alumni in an informal game against the Hawks. Harris played well enough that Hawks coach Alex Hannum asked him to be his fourth guard, but Harris declined.

Harris left the game to become a successful businessman, operating a chain of television and appliance stores and an advertising agency in the Dayton area.

He later worked as a vice president for an insurance company. In 2013, Harris was inducted into the University of Dayton Athletic Hall of Fame.

Achievements

• The Hawks would go on to win the National Basketball Association championship that year. Harris and his wife, Barbara—1953 winner of the Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts—have been married over a half-century and had 10 children.

Views

Quotations: "He was a huge jazz buff and I loved jazz music,".

Connections

Friend:

Chuck Cooper