Billy Harris

Who is Billy Harris?

Billy 'The Kid' Harris was an American basketball player.

Billy Harris grew up in Chicago, where he earned a reputation as a streetball star. A prolific long-range scorer, he was nicknamed "Billy the Kid" and "Shotgun". Scoop Jackson of the magazine SLAM later dubbed him the best playground basketball player ever. "No one has ever claimed to have seen, heard about or witnessed Billy having a bad game. Not one story, not one game," wrote Jackson.

Harris graduated from Dunbar High School in Chicago in 1969; he averaged a team-high 33 points per game as a senior. After being recruited by many colleges, including the University of Kansas, he played at Northern Illinois University from 1969 to 1973. During his junior season at NIU, he led the team to a 21-4 record, which was good enough for NIU to be ranked in the national top 20 for the first time in school history. Harris tallied 17.8 points per game that season, and 24.1 points per game the next season.

After college, Billy Harris was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in the seventh round of the 1973 NBA Draft.