YAKIMA -- Robert Harris has spent pretty much his whole life as part of Pirate Nation.

From his grade-school days when he watched the 1965 state championship basketball team and multi-sport star and future brother-in-law Jackie Brown, to playing football and basketball for the school in the early 1970, and 32 years as an assistant basketball coach, his bond to school is undeniable.

“He bleeds orange and black,” former Davis basketball coach Eli Juarez said. “He is Davis.”

Harris’ indelible impact on the Pirates program and youth throughout the area will be celebrated in a month when he will be enshrined in the Washington Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association Coaches Hall of Fame.

The four-member class includes Harris, Richland coach Earl Streufert, who retired this spring after capping a 490-win career with a 28-0 season and the Class 4A championship, and assistant coaches Bruce Robertson (Richland) and Bruce Richardson (Roosevelt).

Retiring District 5 coordinator Dave Cullen, who spent 16 years as the East Valley athletic director, will be presented with the Ed and Shirley Pepple Service Award, and Burback coach Todd Schumacher will receive the Pat Fitterer ‘You Gotta Love It’ Award.

Richland’s Uptown Theatre will host the event July 15. Tickets are available at wibca.com, and Hall of Fame members and Washington Coaches Association members can receive free entrance by emailing Sunnyside coach Bruce Siebol at BSiebol@msn,com.

Harris, who graduated from Davis in 1974, began coaching for the Pirates in 1978, shortly after earning his degree from Seattle Pacific University.

A job in the Washington Employment Security Department office kept Harris near the Davis campus, and he’d work there for, “40 years, one month and 5 minutes. I left at 5:05.”

His first stint under Gene Rostvold lasted six years. Harris would return for a second tenure in 1999 for new head coach and Pirates great Shag Williams, whom he had coached in the early 1980s.

Harris tutored Williams on rebounding, and it served the 6-foot-4 forward well. He would start 80 of his 109 games at University of Washington, and averaged 6.2 rebounds and nearly 10 points per game his senior year.

After his son Robbie graduated from Davis and Williams stepped away a few years later, Harris remained on Coach Juarez’s staff, which at times also included 2025 WIBCA Hall of Fame inductee John Felton and Davis legend David Trimble.

The 2012 championship was highlight for Harris, who also has a daughter with his wife Sharon, but it was the everyday interaction he enjoyed the most.

“Just the day to day run and grind of every year, because that encompasses coaching my son throughout high school,” he said. “It’s just a blessing. I can’t describe it.”

Juarez, a 2021 WIBCA Hall of Fame inductee, believes that despite Harris’ gentle nature, his words carried weight.

“Because he is a man of integrity and character, even though he’s soft-spoken, his words had impact and special meaning.” Juarez said. “He just listens to the kids and then elaborates. Because of his past experiences, he is listened to.”

Harris joined Jaurez in retirement from the bench following the 2025 season and trip to state.

He and his wife Sharon, who was a school administrator, are enjoying retirement, and he said the Hall of Fame news was a stunner.

“I couldn't believe it, and I hit the ceiling,” he said. “I’m proud and thankful ... and all the other words.”