Michigan State Spartans guard Gary Harris (14) dunks the ball during practice the day before the second round of the 2013 NCAA tournament at The Palace. (Photo: Rick Osentoski, USA TODAY Sports) AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — No Big Ten Freshman of the Year has gone winless against his mother on a basketball court. That is until Michigan State's Gary Harris won the award this season. "Yeah, she was able to get on that one," Harris sheepishly. BRACKET BRIEFING: What you missed, need to know CINDERELLA WATCH: Which team pulls off the next upset? Of course, his mother isn't just any woman. Joy Holmes Harris is a former Mansfield Senior standout and Purdue's first All-American women's basketball player. She also had a professional basketball career that included a last stop in the WNBA in 2000. That year she played for the Detroit Shock, and Gary would run around the Palace of Auburn Hills courts, playing one-one-one with Nancy Lieberman's son. His basketball lessons continued at home, too. "We had our little battles in the backyard," Joy said. But there should be an asterisk next to her record against her son. "I think the last time I played him he was going into the eighth grade," she said with a laugh. "I beat him, but it was tough, and I haven't played him anymore." Joy was a three-time All-Big Ten pick and in 1991 was Big Ten Player of the Year. Locally, she was known as the Mansfield Magnet because of her defensive prowess. Holmes averaged 20 points throughout her All-Ohio high school career, three times leading Mansfield Senior to conference championships and a regional berth before graduation in 1987. But it was at Purdue where she made a name for herself. She averaged 14.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per game and scored 1,747 points during her four-year career (1988-91). She was a first-team All-American and Big Ten Player of the Year in 1991. She was also selected the Big Ten's Female Athlete of the Year that season and was honored as Purdue's Female Athlete of the Decade. She was a member of teams in Seattle and Nashville in the now-defunct American Basketball League, before finishing with Detroit in the WNBA. Her son is carrying on where his mother left off. On Thursday, he got his first taste of the NCAA tournament. Harris had 10 points, four rebounds and four assists as the Spartans cruised past Valparaiso 65-54. It was a routine performance for the fresman phenom. Besides being the first player in Michigan State history to be named Freshman of the Year, Gary was a second-team All-Big Ten selection. He's one of eight finalists for the U.S. Basketball Writers Association's Wayman Tisdale Freshman of the Year award nationally. "Going off to school as a freshman, you never really know how he's going to respond," Joy said. "Playing in the Big Ten, it's such a competitive league, but we couldn't ask for more." Gary Harris was a McDonald's All-American and Indiana's Mr. Basketball as a senior in high school. He was also a blue-chip prospect as a wide receiver in Fishers, Ind., a northern suburb of Indianapolis. With his mother hailing from Ohio and a Purdue graduate, Harris had interest from Ohio State and the Boilermakers. But the family was sold on coaching legend Tom Izzo and Michigan State. Holmes Harris said Izzo was "very hands" on in recruiting Gary. "When we went on our visit, the team embraced him as soon as we got there. He was swept up with the team, and it was like they had been teammates all along," she continued. "It's like a family atmosphere there." He fit in well from the start. Despite nagging back and shoulder injuries which forced him to miss two games early in the season, Harris made an impact, averaging 12.9 points while shooting 46 percent from the field and 41% from the 3-point stripe. He failed to reach double figures in scoring only six times before the postseason and is a big reason the Spartans earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament. "That's the thing with Gary. He works really hard. He has worked really hard in the offseason," his mother said. "He was splitting time between football and basketball and now that he's solely concentrating on basketball ... he's doing great." Harris grew up around the game, following his mother to practices when he was as little as a month old. "I give him pointers and different tips and things," Joy said. "Now he appreciates it more. Now that he's in college, he knows I went through a lot of the things in college he's going through." Harris said he knows his mother will always have his back. "She was a pretty good player. I could talk to her at any time just as well as I can talk to my dad (Gary Harris) at any time," the younger Harris said. "It's good to have two people in your corner." For Holmes Harris, she sees a lot of herself in her 6-4 son. "(He's) definitely at much better player than I was," the former 5-10 forward said. "He has court vision and great defense. I was more known for my defense, but he plays offense and defense. He has the total package." When she and her husband are not driving around the Big Ten to watch their son play, Holmes sells real estate. "We are extremely proud of him," she said. Rob McCurdy also writes for the Mansfield News Journal in Ohio. PHOTOS: PASSIONATE MARCH MADNESS FANS Story Highlights
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Source : http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2013/03/22/michigan-state-gary-harris-joy-holmes-harris-ncaa-auburn-hills-south/2008475/