Moon Township, Pa. – At halftime of the Robert Morris University men's basketball team's 69-61 victory over Mount St. Mary's Saturday, the RMU Basketball Ring of Honor was unveiled.
Devised in the summer of 2013, the Robert Morris Ring of Honor was created to honor the very best of the program in its Division I history. In order to be eligible for the Robert Morris Ring of Honor, a former male or female student-athlete who played basketball with the Colonials must meet at least four of the following five criteria …
· RMU Athletic Hall of Fame member
· RMU career statistical leader in any category for a minimum of five years
· Named conference player of the year at least once
· Earned all-conference first team honors at least once
· Member of a conference regular season or tournament championship team that advanced to a national postseason tournament
The first member to join the Robert Morris Ring of Honor is Chipper Harris, who played guard for the Colonials from 1980 to 1984. A 1995 inductee into the RMU Athletic Hall of Fame and a native of New Kensington, Pa., Harris served as the program's all-time leading scorer from the conclusion of his career in 1984 until 1994 with 1,940 points and currently ranks second all-time behind former guard Myron Walker (1990-94).
Harris averaged 16.4 points per game over his four-year career, shooting 51.4 percent (821-for-1,598) from the field and 78.9 percent (300-for-380) at the free-throw line. RMU's all-time leader in career steals with 450, he also compiled career totals of 405 rebounds, 436 assists and 21 blocks.
Harris helped guide the Colonials to their first two NCAA Tournament trips in 1982 and 1983 as Robert Morris claimed the first two ECAC Metro Conference Tournament championships. In 1984, he was named the ECAC Metro Conference Player of the Year, sharing the honor with Robert Jackson of St. Francis Brooklyn and Carey Scurry of LIU Brooklyn.
In a special surprise ceremony Saturday, Feb. 15, Harris had a banner of his jersey unveiled in the rafters of the Charles L. Sewall Center. He was also present to be inducted into the RMU Athletic Hall of Fame for the second time, this time in honor of the 1981-82 Colonials, the first team in school history, regardless of program, to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
