Leonard Harris

From Hoopedia

Leonard Gordon Harris (born March 3, 1967 in Richmond, Virginia, died December 31, 2005 in Hopewell, Virginia) was an American collegiate and professional player.

After playing at Hopewell High School and Virginia State University in the 1980s, Mr. Harris left the Tri-Cities with national acclaim.

During his days as a Hopewell Blue Devil, Mr. Harris also sparked a championship rebirth, although not on the scale of drought seen at Virginia State. Hopewell won the Central District tournament for the first time in four years during his junior season and repeated during his senior year. That senior campaign (1984-85) ended with the first Central District championship in nine years and a No. 1 ranking in the state AP poll. "He played for us back in the mid-80s and did an excellent job for us, and I believe went on and had a pretty good career," Littlepage said. "It certainly is sad."

The biggest splash of Mr. Harris' basketball career came during his time at Virginia State. His junior season (1987-88), the Trojans set a school-record for victories in a season while posting a 23-10 mark. More importantly, Virginia State won the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) championship for the first time in 47 years with the man known as "Killem" leading the way as the team's top scorer (18.8 PPG) and rebounder (12.5 RPG). His 401 rebounds that season were tops in the country. "He was on my JV team at Hopewell and at VSU when we won the championship," recalled Harry Bradley, who was an assistant coach at Virginia State. "He was responsible for that championship. We had three kids from Hopewell - Leonard along with (star guard) Chris Holloway and Bill Scott, who was all-state. They were the 'Hopewell Connection.'"

There was no letup in Harris during his senior season at Virginia State. He poured in 21.7 points and grabbed 11.3 rebounds for his third double-double season with the Trojans. He exited the school second on the all-time rebounding list (1,079) and third on the scoring chart (1,733). "Leonard was an astute person. He grew from a little guy who could barely walk to be this tenacious guy," said Bradley, now the activities director at Petersburg High. "That guy had more basketball sense than anybody. He was not a great high school player, but he got to VSU and continued to grow physically and mentally."

Mr. Harris went to camp as a free agent with the Washington Bullets of the NBA in 1989, performing well enough to qualify for a spot on the roster. A blip during a final physical bumped him from the team, sending him to basketball's minor pro leagues. He was drafted in the sixth round of the 1989 Continental Basketball Association draft by Sioux Falls (South Dakota). He played five seasons between 1989 and 1995 with five teams, scoring 1,693 points (9.0 PPG) and grabbing 1,438 rebounds (7.6 RPG). He remains today in the top 50 all-time in rebounds for the league.

Mr. Harris also played professionally in the United States Basketball League with the Empire State Stallions and in Canada. "I don't know if a lot of these guys even knew Leonard, but I think he's been in ill health for a good while now," said Bill Littlepage, Harris's high school coach. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones. I haven't seen Leonard in the later years," added Littlepage. "I understand he was having some heart problems. It's always a shame to see and hear of somebody passing at such an early age."

Leonard Harris, Virginia State, 6-7, F

G MIN FG FGA 3P 3PA FT FTA REB PF AST TO BLK STL PTS
85-86 Va State 24 ... 69 133 .. .. 44 66 127 60 17 30 19 14 182
86-87 Va State 23 736 159 292 0 0 109 160 280 92 38 52 17 27 427
87-88 Va State 32 948 236 428 0 1 131 184 401 87 37 63 35 26 603
88-89 Va State 24 782 207 367 1 4 106 141 271 71 28 77 39 22 521

TOTALS 103 ... 671 1220 1 5 390 551 1079 310 120 222 110 89 1733

MIN FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG TPG BPG SPG PPG
85-86 Va State ... 51.9 ... 66.7 5.3 0.7 1.3 0.8 0.6 7.6
86-87 Va State 32.0 54.5 0.0 68.1 12.2 1.7 2.3 0.7 1.2 18.6
87-88 Va State 29.6 55.1 0.0 71.2 12.5 1.2 2.0 1.1 0.8 18.8
88-89 Va State 32.6 56.4 25.0 75.2 11.3 1.2 3.2 1.6 0.9 21.7
TOTALS ... 55.0 20.0 70.8 10.5 1.2 2.2 1.1 0.9 16.8