Lumberjack Legends Named to Elite List
1/19/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 19, 2007
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - As part of its 75th anniversary celebration, the Lone Star Conference announced Thursday its list of the Top 75 basketball players and coaches in conference history. Two Lumberjack greats were among the fold. James Silas and Pete Harris, who starred at Stephen F. Austin in the early 1970s, were both named to the LSC Top 75 list.
Silas and Harris played a hand in three straight LSC championships for the Lumberjacks from 1970-72. Both were also two-time All-America selections -- Silas in 1970 and '71, and Harris in 1972 and '73 -- the only two players in SFA history to earn multiple All-American honors.
Silas is the Lumberjacks' all-time scoring leader with 1,884 career points. He also ranks fifth on the SFA all-time list for field goals in a career (580) and fourth in field goal percentage (57.37). Silas tops the all-time list for free throws made with 499 and is tied for fourth in free throw percentage with an 81.7-percent average at the stripe. As a senior in 1971-72, Silas scored 30.7 points per game, helping to lead SFA to a 29-1 mark and the LSC crown. He went on to spend eight seasons playing for the San Antonio Spurs in both the ABA and NBA. His No. 13 jersey is one of only four to be retired by the Spurs.
Harris' name is also prominent in the SFA record books. He is far and away the leading rebounder in Lumberjack history. His 1,566 boards outnumber the next-best total by more than a hundred, despite the fact that Harris played just three seasons at SFA. Harris also tallied 1,833 points in his career, the third-best total in Lumberjack history. His 658 field goals rank third, and his 16.84 rebounds per contest are the top total in school history by nearly four boards per game. Harris led the team in rebounding all three seasons of his career and led in both scoring and rebounding in his final year. His 522 boards and 19.3 rebound average in the 1971-72 campaign set new SFA and LSC records. Harris was named the Lone Star Conference MVP that season.
One of the original members of the Lone Star Conference, SFA played in the league from its inception in 1931 until 1984, when the Lumberjacks joined the Gulf Star Conference. Two years later, SFA became an NCAA Division I institution, and the Lumberjacks joined the Southland Conference in 1987. SFA won 16 LSC championships in men's basketball.
-- SFA --
