Hall of Fame
Joe Harper, known as “Jumping Joe” Harper during the four seasons (1947-51) he played basketball for coach Paul McBrayer, was a part of four winning teams at Eastern, including the 1948-49 team that went 17-4 and at one time was ranked 10th in the nation with a final ranking of 27th and the 1949-50 Maroon squad that finished 11th in the nation with a 16-6 record and won the post-season OVC Tournament. Harper’s best season was his senior year in 1950-51 when he averaged 10.2 points per game as Eastern finished 16-7 overall, concluding the year in both second place in the OVC’s regular season standings and in the OVC Tournament. Coming to Eastern from London (KY) High School, Harper, as a sophomore at EKU, made two big baskets toward the end of the game to cement a 53-49 regular season-ending victory over the University of Louisville in the Weaver Health Building. Three games later in the consolation 64-44 triumph over Morehead State in the first-ever OVC Tournament held at the Louisville Armory, he led Eastern in scoring vs. the Eagles with 20 points which included making 10-11 from the free throw line. In his four years with the Maroons, Eastern totaled 68 wins in 94 contests with two of these squads attaining Top 20 national rankings during the season. In addition to lettering four years in basketball at Eastern, he also lettered three years in track and one season in baseball. Harper would have probably lettered more than one season in baseball, but he wasn’t allowed to play at EKU for three seasons because he had been signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers. After graduating from Eastern in 1952, he spent two years serving in the Army in the Korean War before entering the coaching profession as head coach at Brodhead High School where he stayed for five seasons. He then was hired as head coach at Monticello High School in 1957 where he led the Trojans to six regional titles, two regional runners-up finishes, making it to the Sweet Sixteen state championship game in 1960 before losing to Louisville Flaget, 65-56. In 1980, he moved across town to coach the Wayne County High School Cardinals for six seasons, retiring in 1986. His career coaching record at all three schools was 517-384, culminating in 1993 with his induction into the Kentucky High School Athletics Hall of Fame. Now deceased, he is survived by his wife, the former Barbara Elaine Scoville; two daughters, Becky Ables (Ron) and Letitia Ducas (Chris); son, Joe, Jr. (Becky); and grandchildren, Gabriel, Salina, Amanda, Robby, Wells, Ike and Pierce.
