TTM Triumph #20: Ira Harge

My outgoing requests have slowed down considerably over the last couple of weeks, but there are still some successes coming in. Some of my favorites are the ABA only guys, like this one:

Mr. Harge had a very different career arc than the majority of athletes at the time, or even now, for that matter.

He played two years of college ball at Burlington Junior College in Iowa before transferring to the University of New Mexico, where he was able to turn the Lobos into a legitimate program for the first time in the history of the program. He finished is college career as a hero to the fans and more importantly, graduated with a degree in education.

He had been drafted by the Pistons in 1963 and again by the 76ers in 1964, but decided to go into teaching for a couple of years following college. Then in 1967 he joined the Pittsburgh Pipers of the newly formed ABA, and would go on to play for six teams over the next six years. Over those six years he won two championships, one with the Pipers in '68 and one the following year with the Oakland Oaks. Over his career he would average 10.3 ppg and 11.6 rpg.

During his playing career he continued his education by earning a master's degree in education (how many athletes have done that?) from UNM. After six seasons, he retired and returned to teaching.

As always, I would like to send a thank you out to Mr. Harge.


Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.