I first got to know Betsy Harris when I was a University of Alabama
student working for the UA student newspaper The Crimson White. One of the
first regular beats I was given while with the CW was covering the Crimson Tide
women’s basketball program, which was just on the verge of growing under Bama coach Rick Moody. What a great time to
begin covering UA women’s hoops as the team became a regular fixture in the NCAA tournament, and I was fortunate to be able to follow the team in places such as Iowa,
Texas and Richmond, Virginia as the program reached the Final Four. I made a
lot of friends with the coaches and players, but Betsy was always one of my
true favorites, not only because she was a deadly 3-point shooter, but also
because she was and is a very nice person. I am glad to still call her a friend
and I think you will find her commentary interesting.
I took my second visit to the University of Alabama my
senior year of high school. I didn’t tell the coaches I was coming because I
needed to see if Alabama was the place I wanted to be to play my next four
years of basketball. I went to the heart of campus, the Quad, and walked the
sidewalk around it. As I was walking, a feeling of home came over me and I knew
Alabama was the place for me. I was a part of Head Coach Rick Moody’s first
recruiting class in his second year of coaching the women’s basketball program.
In his fifth year at Alabama we made it to the school’s first (men’s or women’s)
NCAA Final Four. It was the beginning of many more NCAA Tournaments the program
would make.
My freshman year was a year of learning and perseverance. I
graduated from a small high school in Mississippi with 54 people in my senior
class so when I began my first day of classes at Alabama I was overwhelmed.
There were more people in my Biology class than there were that graduated with
me in high school. My Math professor was from another country so it made it
difficult to understand what he was saying. You have to understand, the closet
people to foreign that I came in contact with back home were either the Choctaw
Indians that I went to school with or someone coming down from the North.
During pre-season workouts, I experienced my first taste of being burned out
because of all the running we were put through on the track at noon, the
hottest part of the day then, and it was the first time I had experienced
lifting weights. My coach wanted to redshirt me but I told him I didn’t want to
redshirt. I couldn’t see myself sitting out a year and not playing in Coleman
Coliseum. I wanted to prove to him and to those back home that I was ready and I
could help better the team right then. I called home, upset from how I was
feeling and from being homesick. My parents are believers in toughing things
out and always finishing what you start. I did, and boy I’m glad I did! I was
the third leading scorer and started a lot that year. We improved from the year before and the
experience prepared me for my sophomore year. Not bad for a small town
Mississippi girl who some people said couldn’t play in the SEC J
My sophomore year was much like my freshman year. I was the
third leading scorer again and my team made it to the second round of the NCAA
Tournament. By my junior year, we were labeled the “Long Rangers” because of
our outside 3- point shooting. We were one of the top 3-point shooting and
scoring teams in the nation. We scored over 100 points multiple times that year
and we would have more people coming to see us play on the road then at our
home games just to see our run- and- gun team. We made it to the second round
of the NCAA Tournament again. I was invited to Colorado Springs, CO after that
season by USA Basketball to try out for one of their select teams. I didn’t
make a team but I got the opportunity to go.
In the fall of my senior year our assistant coach, Dottie
Kelso, passed away from a brain aneurysm. Her passing and the effect she had on
each one of us made for a memorable season. We dedicated our season to Coach K and
vowed to make it to the NCAA Final Four so that she could get the ring she
wanted. We made it to the Final Four only to get beat by three to Louisiana
Tech University, a team we beat in the regular season by double figures. We
achieved our goal though and received 1994 Final Four rings and a final ranking
of No. 4 in the Nation when it was over with. On an individual note, I had
never received an individual award until my senior year. I was named MVP of the
NCAA Midwest Regional Tournament in Austin, Texas, All-Tournament Final Four in
Richmond, Virginia, and made 2nd Team All-SEC. I had averaged 21
points in the NCAA Tournament and scored 21 points in my last game at Alabama.
My uniform number was #21. The countless hours of being in the gym shooting
before and/or after practice also paid off. I still hold the record for most
3-pointers scored in a career…18 years later J
Basketball has always been a big part of my life. I’ve been
blessed to have had the opportunities that I have had but most importantly I’ve
been blessed with a family that has always believed and supported me. I
continue to keep up with some of my Alabama teammates as they will always be
family to me…The new and old ones.
Always Rollin with the Tide,
Betsy Harris ‘94
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