Harrison hopes to help freshmen

By Jill Hummels     Nov 7, 2001

Four months before walking onto Kansas University’s basketball team last year, Lewis Harrison spent a few days lying in a hospital bed wondering when he would walk again.

The senior guard from Kansas City, Kan., was involved in a head-on automobile collision last June that left his knees and back badly injured and any hopes of playing NCAA Division One ball all but dashed.

“Once that happened I was gonna be done with basketball,” Harrison said, “I was just coming to Kansas to go to school.”

But the 6-foot, 170-pound Harrison couldn’t get the game out of his blood and, while the accident put basketball into perspective, it also reaffirmed his love for it.

“I got here and I wasn’t going to practice every day, I wasn’t lifting weights and I really missed it,” said Har-rison, who was invited to walk on by KU’s coaching staff.

“Having it taken away for a little bit and then it coming back was the best thing.”

Harrison, a reserve guard who played sparingly in 16 games last season, probably won’t get any more court time this year especially with a freshman class chock full of guards.

Still the Kansas City CC transfer cherishes his role as a Jayhawk.

“We got a lot of great guards this year,” Harrison said. “My thing is to practice every day and do as good as I can, if I get a spot I get a spot. If I don’t then I’ll be making my teammates better. As long as Kansas wins it doesn’t matter to me.”

Fellow senior walk-on Brett Ballard, who like Harrison wants to coach after graduation, understands Harrison’s attitude and lauds his importance.

“What I appreciate most about Lewis is he appreciates what he has here at Kansas,” Ballard said. “He appreciates all the little things and that makes him work harder. He knows he’s in a great situation and I think he has a good time.”

This team might already be closer than last year’s, Harrison said, and a lot of that comes from the freshmen, who keep things lively.

He said he hoped he could share his experiences from last season and teach the newcomers.

“With five freshmen here I can relate to them, because not everyone is going to play,” said the KC Piper High product. “I’ve been there. Last year I didn’t play a whole lot. They kind of look to me, I can kind of help them out with staying positive.”

Senior Chris Zerbe says the usually reserved Harrison also knows how to keep things upbeat.

“Lewis is the type of guy who always has a joke or something, he keeps the guys loose,” Zerbe said. “He jokes around with everybody. Lewis is just one of those guys everyone is comfortable being around. Not only is he a good basketball player but also a good person.”

Harrison doesn’t remember much from that Friday afternoon in KC when a driver ran a red light and hit him head on, but he does know that because of the incident he’s grown as a person, and basketball player.

“I knew that (the wreck) kind of hurt my chances leaving juco and going to another school,” Harrison said. “But I just remember I was so happy that I was all right.

“Before, I was really, really big on basketball. It was all about basketball. Then, after that, basketball kind of just took second place.”

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