The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Harrison nets Wickliffe Hall of Fame induction
Herb Harrison, a 1983 Wickliffe graduate and Blue Devils basketball standout who went on to play four years at Marquette, will be inducted into the school’s athletic hall of fame.
Herb Harrison is like a connoisseur savoring a glass of vintage fine wine.
After 34 years, the wait is over: Harrison is a Hall of Famer. He is a 2017 inductee into the Wickliffe High Athletic Hall of Fame.
Harrison is among the school’s top all-time career scoring leaders in boys basketball. The 1983 Wickliffe graduate also played college basketball at Marquette University where he was a four-year letterwinner.
“Patience is a virtue,” Harrison said. “I’ve always tried to be humble. I’m thankful that I’m able to enjoy this honor.”
Harrison is the younger brother of Jayne (Harrison) Kennedy and cousin of former NFL wide receiver/kick returner Billy “White Shoes” Johnson.
Kennedy was among the women pioneers in sports broadcasting. She was Miss Ohio in 1970, then eventually appeared on CBS’ “NFL Today” Show in 1978 and was the only woman to ever host the syndicated TV series “Greatest Sports Legends.”
“I’m happy for Herb. It’s a special honor and long overdue,” Kennedy said by phone from her home in California.
The former actress always wanted a little brother.
“Unfortunately, I was not able to be there to watch Herb grow up,” she said. “I left home when he was 6. I missed out on a lot. I regret the fact I was not able to watch him play more. It was a blessing when I got home and had the opportunity see him in action on the court.”
Kennedy kept in touch with her brother and had Herb come to visit her in New York on several occasions.
“I tried to include him in some of the things I was doing,” she said. “I always tried to surround him with positive people and role models. Herb was able to meet Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.”
Kennedy’s fondest memory of Herb came when she was leaving home.
“The night I left Cleveland to move to Los Angeles, we were sitting around on the kitchen steps,” she said. “We got up and took a walk down the street. Herb had this puppy face look on him. When we got down to the end of the street, he gave me a penny and told me I’d never be broke.”
Harrison remembers watching his sister at the Miss USA pageant in Florida and on television, too.
“I loved when the Sunday morning NFL Today Show came on TV,” he said. “There she was sitting at the desk with Brent Musburger, Irv Cross and Jimmy The Greek. I was so proud of her. I was only 13 or 14 at the time.”
Harrison recalled receiving long-distance phone calls during the football season from his sister inviting him to spend the weekend with her.
“She would send me a plane ticket and allowed me to hang out with her,” he said. “It was a lot of fun. I went to Detroit and a few other places, including the Indianapolis 500 in 1984.”
“I was 17 and got to ride around the track in the pace car before the race,” he said. “I got to meet all the drivers. Unfortunately, I didn’t think about getting any autographs. Rick Mears won the race that year.”
Harrison’s most memorable high school game was the 1982-83 season opener at Eastlake North. He scored 29 points and grabbed 15 rebounds after spending two months recovering from an ankle injury sustained playing soccer.
“Coach (Ralph) Simmons talked me into playing soccer,” he said. “I snapped my ankle in the second game. I was in a cast for 30 days. I had a great game against North and kicked butt the next couple of games, too.”
An all-Ohioan, the 6-foot-8 forward averaged 22 points and 13 rebounds his senior season for the Blue Devils.
Harrison also was a three-time winner (’81, ’82 and ’83) of the school’s Dan Stopp award. The award originally took into consideration school work, citizenship, character and athletic ability. It continues today as the team MVP award.
Harrison was the Lake County scoring and rebounding leader three times and led the district in the same two categories twice. He also was an allconference selection and a News-Herald all-star.
Harrison had offers to play college basketball from Marquette, Georgetown, Indiana State and VCU.
“’I had three shoeboxes full of envelopes with scholarship offers,” he said. “I got a recruiting letter from Indiana State personally signed by Larry Bird.”
Harrison committed to Marquette University in June of 1983. The Warriors won the NCAA men’s basketball championship in 1977.
“I knew Marquette had a great basketball program and was a good school academically,” Harrison said. “I also thought I was going to get a lot of playing time. Hank Raymonds was the coach, but a month after I signed my letter-of-intent he resigned. Rick Majerus became the coach. His philosophy was a lot different. I didn’t play as much as I thought I would.”
His most memorable college game came as a sophomore against Valparaiso. He scored 18 points, making 9 of 11 shots from the field in 18 minutes off the bench. Although he didn’t see much playing time on the court, Harrison has no regrets about his college choice.
“I went to a Division I school on a basketball scholarship and graduated on time in four years,” he said. “I’ve got a double degree, a bachelor of arts and sciences in interpersonal communications and bachelor of arts in mathematical science.”
Known for his presence on the basketball court, Harrison also played two years of baseball for Wickliffe. A righthanded pitcher, Harrison fanned 14 batters as a junior leading the Blue Devils past West Geauga, 1-0, in a Chagrin Valley Conference game.