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An apology to Tony Harris
By rbk | June 4, 2008
After years of being off the radar, Tony Harris did two interviews yesterday, one on the radio with Tony Basilio and another with Mike Griffith of the Knoxville News-Sentinel. He talked about life, basketball, his days at UT, Bruce Pearl, and even about the possibility of playing in the Rocky Top League. Tony is back in Knoxville, attending classes full time to finish his degree, and working for Vision Athletics teaching and training young basketball players. He’s also working in Bruce Pearl’s basketball camp right now.
Tony said a lot of the right things– about returning to school, about what’s important in life, about Coach Pearl (who encouraged him to come back and get his degree, but that’s another story altogether), and about why he and his many talented teammates never made a dent in the NBA. I could say a lot about all these things but I recommend reading Griff’s article and listening to Basilio’s interview (end of segment 5 and beginning of segment 6). There is a lot of good stuff in there that UT basketball fans would enjoy.
There’s one thing Tony said in particular I want to talk about though. He talked about the mistakes he made and the reputation he had at UT– of being a “jerk” or a “thug” as Gary Lundy called him in an infamous column from the time. Just after that, Basilio asked him about coach O’Neill, why he committed here, and what things would have been like if O’Neill had remained his coach.
He said he committed to Coach O’Neill because he knew he had a lot to learn about playing basketball and becoming a man. He knew he had the skills but knew he needed someone to guide him and help him grow. First of all, that’s keen insight for a kid that age– to admit his own shortcomings and seek help instead of someone that would make him comfortable. Second, think about this some more. He chose Kevin O’Neill and Tennessee because he knew O’Neill wouldn’t put up with anything and would be a good leader for him, personally and for his basketball game. He knew he needed that.
A coaching change later, Tony had Jerry Green. Tony tried hard in these interviews not to badmouth Green but it’s obvious that he knew what a bad, bad change that was for him. He said he didn’t have a father figure growing up and that choosing a college coach was very important for that reason.
And yet he got Jerry Green. What a cruel twist of fate. A kid looks inward, knows he needs guidance and leadership, and has the rug pulled out from under him instead. He gets a soft coach with an anything goes attitude, which is absolutely the last thing he needed.
Tony needed help, and he got Jerry Green. At last I think I can understand and forgive Tony Harris’s shortcomings. I will admit to being a Tony Harris “hater.” I thought he epitomized all the problems we had during Green’s tenure, on the court and off. Undisciplined, selfish, and no improvement on or off the court. And you know what– that still holds. He still epitomizes those things as a basketball player at UT under Coach Green. I will always tie Tony Harris to that exciting yet infuriating era in Tennessee basketball.
But to Tony I have to say I am sorry for this. I’m sorry for the last 10 years I’ve spent thinking ill of him when I didn’t know him at all. I knew little about him except what I saw on the court, and it was unfair for me to judge. After hearing him talk with Tony Basilio, he is a mature man now and is completely honest about the way his life has gone.
What kills me is that those shortcomings we saw from him– the immaturity and sometimes selfish play– Tony knew them, or if not them in specific, he knew of his shortcomings in general. And he tried to find a way to grow. He sought out a coach that would help him mature, and instead he got Jerry Green.
I feel bad for Tony now. It never clicked with me quite like it has after listening to Tony today and yesterday. Tony had some problems, before and during college, and he simply did not get the guidance that he knew he needed to help him through them. He sounded like a great guy to me, someone with good intentions, intelligence, and an honest view of his own life. He doesn’t deserve his legacy with UT fans, and hopefully many of you will have your eyes opened as I have.
Tony, I am sorry; sorry for judging you without knowing you, sorry for associating you with a tarnished and embarrassing period in UT basketball, and most of all sorry that you did not get what you sought when you came to Knoxville to go to school and play basketball. You deserved more than you got and more than you’ve gotten since you left. Best wishes to you in getting your degree and in your future career endeavors, and it’s good to have you back in the fold in the UT basketball family.
Topic: Uncategorized | Tags: bruce pearl, Tony Harris
June 4th, 2008 at 10:24 am
Other than this story being biased it did change my opinion of Tony. When I was a student at UT I was eating in the UC with my roommate. We were sitting at one of the tables and Tony sat right down beside us. After a few minutes one of the other basketball players came up to Tony and told him about a party going on. Tony said he couldn’t because he had a class. The other player said F* it you know you will get the grade anyways Tony agreed and left. Coach Green Sucked!
March 24th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
[...] prompting a press conference from then-AD Doug Dickey to defend his player. Last June, The Bruce Ball Blog wrote an excellent piece on Harris, both showing where he is now, and offering an apology for some of the [...]