Former prep star reaches out to college hopefuls

Published 11:23 pm Monday, July 16, 2007

Ollie Harris is a postman by trade who once fell through the cracks as a promising high school basketball player.

Now he wants to help deliver the right hopes and dreams to aspiring college athletes in the Dalton area.

“I was overlooked,” he said. “I want to do what I can to make sure players around here aren’t.”

Harris, 48, was an All-State selection at guard for Dalton High School, which lost 10 games under his leadership from 1973-77. He played at Dalton State College before transferring to Chattanooga State, but believes he could have maximized his potential had he known his way better around the recruiting process.

“I tell kids I was close,” he says, “and I tell them I know how to guide them through the system.”

Dalton graduate DeAshia Lovelace is one of Harris’ true success stories. Lovelace was a little-known quantity as a senior for a Lady Catamounts team stocked with talent, but picked the best moment to showcase her ability. She pumped in 14 points to lead Dalton past Rome in the Region 7-4A championship game this past February.

With that performance and Harris’ connections, Lovelace garnered interest from Hiwassee College in Madisonville, Tenn., and is headed there to play on a basketball scholarship that once seemed unlikely.

“I thought I would not be playing basketball again and figured I would go to Dalton State and study nursing,” Lovelace said at her signing ceremony last week.

Harris said he didn’t perform any magic for Lovelace. He recognized her ability and got her name to the right channels, he said.

“I’ve been an official (for the Georgia High School Association) for 20 years,” he said. “I see talent on the floor every night. If I see talent and they need my help, I talk to people and get them on the right path.”

Along with Lovelace and Northwest Whitfield graduate Samantha Avery, who will be accompanying Lovelace to Madisonville on a basketball full ride, Harris says he has helped “maybe 15-20 kids” earn athletic scholarships since 1984.

The art of communication and an NCAA-issued manual listing the names of every coach at each member school are Harris’ principal tools. Even though he has a consulting license, he said he does not charge for his services except for standard paperwork fees and long distance phone calls.

It’s not a moneymaking venture.

“It makes me feel good when one of them signs,” said Harris, who has mentored Dalton’s Stephaun Raines, Jerrica Johnson and the late Andre Johnson. “I do it for that. It’s like it was a job well done.”

What are the biggest pitfalls for high school athletes in this area? Harris said it starts with recruiting letters.

Players will brag to their friends and family about receiving a letter from a Division I school, but the postage does not guarantee a bid to play for the program.

“A lot of kids walk around with recruiting letters in their pockets that they’ve gotten from Georgia or Tennessee,” he said. “I’m a mailman. I see them. Just because you get that letter, it doesn’t mean you’re going there. The schools want the non-refundable (application) paperwork. Georgia sends those letters to everyone in the state, mostly because they’re trying to get the non-refundable money.”

Finding a school that’s the best possible fit is the key, Harris said. And the process starts at the very earliest stage.

Because he says Division I schools start to target talent at the freshman level, Harris emphasizes awareness to underclassmen.

“Young kids like Eric Green (a sophomore at Dalton High) will come to the community center on Sundays,” Harris said. “It’s all free of charge. We’ll feed them and talk about the process. We’ll talk about grades. For every kid I work with, I get the report cards.”

Harris accentuates academics and character above all else. A good jump shot or swim move might look good on videotape, but high marks in core classes are everlasting, he says.

“You’ve got to be a good student,” he said. “Anyone can be an athlete. The first things coaches ask me is what kind of student they are and what kind of kid they are.”

Any local athlete needing Harris’ mostly-free service may contact him at 260-8147 or 259-4021.