When asked about Chipper Harris, former Robert Morris men’s basketball coach Matt Furjanic speaks of false hustle plays. That’s when a player, in an attempt to steal the ball, abandons his defensive position and leaves his teammates scrambling.
Using a baseball analogy, Mr. Furjanic estimates most basketball players bat .200 when attempting such plays. But Mr. Harris, whom Mr. Furjanic coached in the early 1980s, was an exception.
One of Mr. Harris’ many strengths was his quick hands. He holds the three-best single-season steal totals in Robert Morris history, and his ability on both sides of the court helped the university establish itself as a mid-major power less than a decade after making the leap from the junior college level to Division 1 prior to the 1976-77 season.
“Chip batted .950,” said Mr. Furjanic, who coached at Robert Morris from 1979 to 1984. “He wouldn’t hurt the defense going for steals. He just had great anticipation and read the offenses so well that it was like he had that knack for knowing where the next pass was going.”
Mr. Harris, who in 2014 became the first student athlete inducted into Robert Morris’ Ring of Honor, died Saturday due to complications from diabetes at the age of 55. He leaves behind a legacy as a winner, and as one of Pittsburgh’s most important basketball players.
The New Kensington native played basketball at Valley High School, where he helped his team win a PIAA state championship as a junior in 1979.
Mr. Harris was a substitute player at the beginning of that season, according to his high school coach, Jim Patterson. By the end of the season, he was a key contributor and was instrumental in Valley’s championship run.
“Even his senior year he kept getting better and better,” Mr. Patterson said. “He really had quick hands, you could see that developing his junior year. Just in that one year you could see how he was getting better and better. Then when he went to college he led the nation in steals two years in a row, and that was just a continuation of his improvement.”
Mr. Harris was part of a pivotal recruiting class for Robert Morris — a class that included Forest “Bay” Grant of Beaver Falls, who was Mr. Harris’ back court mate, fellow university hall of famer and the program’s career assist leader, with 555, and Tom Parks of Belle Vernon, who is 23rd on Robert Morris’ all-time scoring list.
Mr. Harris was the program’s all-time leading scorer when his career ended in 1984, and he is currently second on the list with 1,942 points, behind only Myron Walker, who scored 1,965 points between 1990 and 1994. Mr. Harris is first in field goals (821), field goal attempts (1,598), steals (450) and steals per game (3.8).
“All he wanted to do was win,” Mr. Furjanic said. “And he gave 100 percent all the time — practice, games, staying in the gym to get extra shots up. He did a lot of things back then that coaches now hope their players do.”
Mr. Harris helped Robert Morris earn its first NCAA Tournament berth in 1982, six years after the Colonials made the jump to the Division 1 ranks prior to the 1976-77 season. A year later, Mr. Harris tallied 16 points, three assists and a steal to help the Colonials beat Georgia Southern in Dayton, 64-54, in a play-in game to advance to the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time. The Colonials lost the next game, 55-53, to Purdue University.
“Chipper certainly was the catalyst,” said Mark McCloud, Mr. Harris’ childhood friend and a former basketball player at Valley and Robert Morris. “He and Forest Grant were the two guys that really took Robert Morris to the next level, and I was fortunate to be there at the right time. It was a great journey because Chip was a great basketball player. We worked out hard together and a lot of good things happened in that two-year period along with when we were in high school.”
Mr. Harris is survived by two daughters, Caylen Ann Harris and Cindy Shaulis, both of New Kensington. Visitation is from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday at the Ross G. Walker Funeral Home, 217 Freeport Road in New Kensington. The funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, 1150 Fourth Ave. in new Kensington.
Omari Sankofa II: osankofa@post-gazette.com and Twitter @omarisankofa
First Published: June 2, 2018, 4:19 a.m.
