Jerry Harper Named Alabama’s 2020 SEC Basketball Legend

Harper one of 14 greats from around the league who will be honored at the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament

Alabama Athletics

Former Alabama standout Jerry Harper (1953-56), an All-American performer and a member of the famed 1956 “Rocket 8” team, is one of 14 former greats who have been selected for the 2020 Allstate Southeastern Conference Basketball Legends.

Harper, a 2001 Alabama Sports Hall of Fame inductee, became Alabama’s first two-time All American, earning the honor in 1955 and 1956. A member of head coach Johnny Dee’s “Rocket 8” team, he helped the Tide to its first postseason ranking at No. 12 in 1955, before improving to a program-best No. 5 during the 1956 season. That same year, the team compiled a 21-3 record and finished the season as the first-ever undefeated team in SEC history (14-0) until 40 years later when Kentucky accomplished the feat in 1996.

Harper’s biggest weapon was his rebounding, as he set the SEC career record with 1,688 rebounds across his 93 games played (18.2 rebounds per game) and has remained the SEC’s all-time leader for the last 65 years. He also holds the league record for single-season rebounding average at 21.5 rpg in 1956 when he had a total of 517 rebounds in 24 games.

In addition to his work on the glass, Harper was the first Crimson Tide player to reach 1,000 points, hitting the milestone in his junior year. Harper, along with James Robinson (1991-93), are the only two to reach the mark in fewer than 80 games in Alabama history.

Harper joins his teammates Leon Marlaire (2008), Jack Kubiszyn (2012) and George Linn (2017) as former members of the Rocket 8 team who have been honored as an SEC Legend.

Members from the entire class will be honored at the 2020 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament, which will be held March 11-15 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. Each SEC Basketball Legend will be recognized at halftime of his institution’s first game of the tournament.

This marks the 22 year of the SEC Legends program. Alabama’s SEC Legends include, in order, Reggie King, 1999; Wendell Hudson, 2000; T.R Dunn, 2001; Leon Douglas, 2002; Buck Johnson, 2003; Derrick McKey, 2004; Gary Waites, 2005; Jim Farmer, 2006; Mike Nordholz, 2007; Leon Marlaier, 2008; Melvin Cheatum, 2009; Charles Cleveland, 2010; Robert Horry, 2001; Jack Kubiszyn, 2012; Wimp Sanderson, 2013; Eddie Phillips, 2014; Charles “C.M.” Newton, 2015; Ennis Whatley, 2016; George Linn, 2017; James “Hollywood” Robinson, 2018; and Erwin Dudley, 2019.

2020 SEC Basketball Legends

ALABAMA – Jerry Harper, 1953-56

ARKANSAS – Derek Hood, 1996-99

AUBURN – Layton Johns, 1960-63

FLORIDA – Chris Richard, 2003-07

GEORGIA – Rod Cole, 1987-91

KENTUCKY – Vernon Hatton, 1956-58

LSU – Collis Temple III, 1999-2003

OLE MISS – Eric Laird, 1982-85

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Jerry Jenkins, 1973-75

MISSOURI – Steve Stipanovich, 1979-83

SOUTH CAROLINA – Tre’ Kelley, 2003-07

TENNESSEE – Lang Wiseman, 1989-93

TEXAS A&M – David Britton, 1978-1980

VANDERBILT – Butch Feher, 1973-76