Former Georgia women’s basketball star Janet Harris, one of the early greats in the NCAA era of women’s basketball, is among the newest members of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame’s induction Class of 2015 was announced Saturday in association with the WNBA All-Star Game.
The other five members announced Saturday are Janeth Arcain (player), Kurt Budke (coach, posthumously), Gail Goestenkors (coach), Lisa Leslie (player) and Brad Smith (coach). The group will be formally inducted into the Hall of Fame on June 13 in Knoxville, Tenn.
Harris will be the Lady Bulldogs’ fourth representative in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. Katrina McClain was inducted in 2006, followed by coach Andy Landers in 2007 and Teresa Edwards in 2008.
“When I got the call and heard, I couldn’t believe it,” Harris said in a news release distributed by UGA. “I was just in shock. I cried. This has been a long time coming. I don’t talk about my basketball career that much. I’ve worked at FedEx Ground for 15 years and not too many people there have any idea. The first person I told was my brother, Nate, and he was excited. When I told my older sister, Elizabeth, she said ‘A little asthmatic girl from the west side of Chicago finally got the call.’
“When they sent me my bio to look over, it sort of blew me away,” Harris said. “I’m not someone who thinks about the accomplishments in my career. When you actually see it all, I was like ‘Wow.’ It took me back.”
Harris was the nation’s top-rated prospect out of John Marshall High in Chicago when she signed with Georgia before the Lady Bulldogs emerged as on the nation’s top programs. She arrived in Athens in the fall of 1981, and was a freshman in the same season that women’s intercollegiate athletics came under the auspices of the NCAA.
She became just the third freshman to earn Kodak All-America honors and went on to become a three-time Kodak All-American. She also was the first player in league history to be named first-team All-SEC four times.
Harris became the first women’s basketball player in NCAA history to score 2,500 points and collect 1,250 rebounds. She still ranks No. 34 in the NCAA in career points (2,641) and No. 18 in rebounds (1,398). She averaged 20.2 points and 10.7 rebounds at Georgia and remains No. 3 in NCAA history with 78 career double-doubles.
“Janet Harris was our first great player and she made it cool for other great players to come to Georgia,” Landers said in a release. “People in Chicago who followed women’s basketball and have followed basketball – the old coaches and the media – will still tell you that Janet Harris was the best player to ever play in Chicago. When Janet got to Georgia, Janet was better than our basketball team.
“Janet Harris was the first great power player under the NCAA regime and one of the greatest power players of all time. Her numbers are numbers that, 30 years later, only a handful of players can say they have compiled.”
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