Half-Filipina, former Yale Bulldogs Cassandra Harris shares her story and experience playing basketball in the Philippines in episode 11 of The Locker Room Talk Show.
Before she joined the Yale Bulldogs, Cassandra was a four year varsity player at Newbury Park and graduated as the school’s all time leading scorer (1137 career points) and third all time leading rebounder (621 career rebounds). As a senior, she averaged 16 points and 8 rebounds a game and was named league Player of the Year. Harris was also named LA Times All-County her junior and senior seasons. Cassandra also graduated with a 4.2 GPA.
Harris has been coaching youth basketball since she was in eight grade, starting with the Newbury Park Basketball Association in 1998. She played with Newbury Park High School girl’s basketball team. Graduating as the lead scorer, she went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Literature at Yale University and currently pursues her own poetry. However, she still supports her two children, Lua and Kai.
“I still work – I work full time. I work for the State Department of Social Services and I played basketball in college,” Harris said.
Harris said she wants to prepare her players for “life outside of basketball.”
“Some girls get so entrenched in basketball that they kind of lose themselves when they stop playing, so education is hugely important,” Harris said. “Teamwork is also a very important skill that will lead them into their lives.”