MSU Billings to Honor Mike Harkins at
Men’s Basketball Game Saturday (January 15, 2003)

BILLINGS, MT – MSU Billings will honor former men’s basketball coach Mike Harkins during halftime of the Yellowjackets’ game against BYU-Hawaii on Saturday, January 18.  There will be a 15-minute halftime ceremony during which school officials, along with Harkins’s friends, family and former players, will celebrate the coaching career of the school’s all-time winningest coach. 

Harkins coached the Yellowjackets from 1960 to 1976, coaching in 448 games.  He won a school-record 290 of those games for a 64.7% winning percentage.  Even more impressive was the conference record of Harkins’s teams.  In winning 12 Conference Championships, the Yellowjackets posted a 154-29 conference mark for an incredible 84.2% conference winning percentage.

For anyone who wants to debate Harkins’s importance to the Yellowjacket basketball program, one only needs to consider the success of the program before and after his arrival.  Before Harkins, the Yellowjacket men’s basketball program had posted an overall record of 123-311 for an unremarkable 28% winning percentage.  From 1960—Harkins’s first year—through the end of last season, the Yellowjackets won 757 games against 435 losses for a 63.5% winning percentage.

In 1960, Harkins took over a team that had won just 12 games the previous season.  He turned the Yellowjackets into instant winners, going 16-5 in the 1960-61 season and placing second in the Montana Collegiate Conference with a 7-3 conference mark.  That first season was merely a hint of what was to come for Yellowjacket fans over the next 15 seasons.

The 1961-1962 season saw Harkins guide the Yellowjacket basketball team to its first conference championship in school history when the team captured the Montana Collegiate Conference title.  That championship signaled a new era for the Harkins-led Yellowjackets.  They followed the school’s first-ever championship with conference titles in 1962-63, 1963-64, 1964-65, 1966-67, 1967-68, 1969-70, 1970-71, 1971-72, 1972-73, 1974-75, and 1975-76.

After winning the MCC championship in 1963-64, the Yellowjackets went on to win the District #5 title and advance to the NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City where they lost to eventual national champion Rockhurst.  Harkins would lead the Yellowjackets to the NAIA District Championship and the NAIA National Tournament a total of 10 times in his career.

In 1964-65, Eastern Montana College won its second-straight NAIA District #5 championship and advanced to the National Tournament for the second year in a row.  The Yellowjackets defeated Central Washington in the first round for their first National Tournament victory. 

For his turnaround of the Yellowjacket program and the team’s dominance during his tenure, Harkins was named the conference Coach of the Year a total of eight times.  In 1977, after Harkins won his twelfth conference championship and advanced to his tenth NAIA National Tournament, he was a finalist for the National Coach of the Year.

A native of Akron, Ohio, Harkins attended Akron University where he played basketball for four years.  In 1956, he was No. 3 in the nation for scoring, averaging 28.4 points per game for the Zips.  For his career at Akron, Harkins averaged 21 points per game.  He set an Akron single-game scoring record that lasted 25 years by scoring 46 points in a game.  During his time at Akron, Harkins earned All-Ohio Conference and All-Ohio honors.  He was also named to the All-America team along with such players as Bill Russell.

Prior to becoming a collegiate basketball star, Harkins also excelled as a high school football player.  While playing football for Akron East High School, he once caught 17 passes against Garfield High School in the Akron City Championship game.  Interestingly, Garfield High School was the alma mater of Mike’s future wife, Grace Harkins.

Harkins would later go on to make a name for himself nationally as a basketball coach and writer.  He traveled the world, coaching teams on international tours to Africa, Great Britain, Italy, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Spain, Mexico and Brazil.  Harkins coached the United States team in the World Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  He also wrote 18 books on basketball and authored 50 magazine articles.

For his dedication to the game of basketball and to teaching, Harkins has been named to six halls of fame and has received numerous awards.  He is a member of the Halls of Fame at Akron East High School, Goodyear Tire Company, Summit County (Ohio), Akron University, Montana State University-Billings/Eastern Montana College, and the Lone Star Fraternity at Akron University.

Harkins was given the Akron University Distinguished Alumni Award from his alma mater.  From Eastern Montana College, he received the EMC Research Award, EMC Teaching Award, EMC Emeritus Teaching Award, and EMC Emeritus Coaching Award.

The ceremony for Harkins will begin immediately following the first half of the MSU Billings/BYU-Hawaii game.  The Yellowjackets and Seasiders were Co-Champions of the Pacific West Conference last year and will be meeting for the first time this season.  Tip-off will be at 7:00 p.m.  For ticket information, call Yellowjacket Athletics at 406-657-2369.

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