Athletics welcomes familiar face

Mike Harris is new to VCU. Well,
sort of.

Harris, who graduated from VCU in
1978, returned to his alma mater Tuesday
to begin his job as assistant director for
athletic communications.
Harris is well known in the area as a
former sports reporter for the Richmond
Times-Dispatch. He covered VCU
basketball and baseball, among other
things, as a beat writer. Most recently,
he served as the sports editor for the
Times-Dispatch for the past 15 months
– 461 days, to be exact, he said.

The sports editor position was attractive,
he said, partly because it demanded
much less travel.

“The road was starting to wear me
out. It’s a long way from here to there,
then there to here, back and forth two
or three times a week,” Harris said.
“Anyone who thinks constant travel is
fun hasn’t done it.”

Harris’ passion for writing can be
traced back to his childhood, when
he followed the beat of Major League
Baseball’s Washington Senators. He later
came to VCU to become a journalist,
saying his attraction was to the mass
communications department.

Harris served as The Commonwealth
Times’ sports editor from 1974 to 1975.
What did he think of his time at the
CT?

“Terrific. It let me report. I got to go
out there and do what I planned to do
in my future.”

During his years on the sports beat,
Harris thought of writing a book.

“I had always wanted to try a book, and
I had several ideas shot down by agents,”
Harris said. “I was sitting here thinking
‘I don’t have a book in me. I must not
be good enough to do a book.’ “

In 2006, Harris got the opportunity
when he authored, “Game Of My Life
– Virginia Tech: Memorable Stories of
Hokie Football and Basketball,” as part
of Sports Publishing’s “Game of My
Life” series.

“Sports Publishing contacted me and
pitched this idea and said, ‘Do you want
to try it?’ And I said ‘Sure, let’s give it
a whirl,’ ” Harris said. “It was right up
my alley because I was covering Virginia
Tech at the time.”

Now, Harris is making the transition
from a member of the media to a staff
member who communicates with the
media about the university’s athletics.

The chance to work at VCU stemmed
from a casual conversation Harris had
with the director of VCU’s SportsCenter,
Richard Sander.

“I’ve always admired what (Sander
has) done, and we’ve had a great working
relationship over the years,” Harris said.
“He was the athletic director when I
covered VCU, and we were just talking
about the future . I mentioned how
working in a university setting was appealing
to me and he said, ‘maybe you
don’t need to wait.’ “

Harris will work partly alongside
Sander in the Sports Center, but will
be primarily in the athletic department
working with Athletic Director Norwood
Teague.

“While I covered Dr. Sander as a beat
writer, I’ve gotten to know Norwood as
sports editor, and I’ve got tremendous
respect for what he’s all
about, too.”

Although he wasn’t looking
to get out of his job at
the Times-Dispatch, Harris
says the opportunity to work
at his alma mater lured him
away.

“To get a chance to be a
part of what I call the ‘newlook
VCU’ is more than I can
pass up. It’s just stunning
what they’ve done here.”

Harris is impressed with
the direction the athletic
department has taken and
is excited to be a part of the
“mind-boggling” changes
that are taking place.

“The athletic department
can continue to grow in
more ways than I can count,”
Harris said. “I think my
knowledge of the way the
media world works and my
knowledge of the people
in the media can help us
tremendously.”

Harris describes colleagues
Teague and President
Eugene P. Trani as
“men of vision” and is
excited to join them and
be a part of the escalation
of VCU athletics.

“There’s a lot of good
going on in VCU athletics,
and we want to be very
proactive in spreading the
word, Harris said. “There
are so many vehicles of
communication.”