Lusia Harris, the Queen of Basketball
1975 to 1977. The first Olympic basket and an NBA draft pick
Lusia Harris was a 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) center from Mississippi who played for Delta State University. She led Delta State to three straight AIAW national titles, the top women's college championship of the time, in 1975, 1976 and 1977, and was tournament MVP each year. She scored 2,891 points in 115 college games, making 63.3% of her shots.
In 1976, women's basketball made its Olympic debut in Montreal. In the opening game against Japan, Harris scored the first basket of the women's Olympic tournament. The United States went on to win silver.
In 1977, the New Orleans Jazz picked her in the seventh round of the NBA draft. She is still the only woman ever officially drafted by an NBA team. She did not try out, because she was pregnant. In 1992 she became the first Black woman inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
What changed
Harris scored with strength, position and a soft touch close to the basket. Her career showed young players how a strong post game can carry a team to titles, and her draft pick showed how far women's basketball had come.