Bailey Harris has coached against many talented players and teams.

The retired Lexington High School boys’ basketball coach has the distinction of coaching against 2 future NBA Hall of Famers.

Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant were among the newest inductees named this past weekend.

In both games, Harris’ Wildcats lost.

Kevin Garnett

They 1st met Kevin Garnett in the 3rd round of the Class 4A Upper State playoffs. He was a junior at Mauldin High School.

At 6’11 and 290 lbs. Garnett’s athleticism and heigth proved problematic for a Lexington team led by future Oklahoma guard Tim Heskitt, All-State post player James Stokes, future Dorman head coach Thomas Ryan and future Dutch Fork assistant coach Jason Cochcroft.

“Garnett is just totally disruptive on both ends of the floor,” Harris said. “Anything in the lane was going to be blocked or altered.”

Garnett finished with 36 points, 24 rebounds and 7 blocks.

Heskitt’s 27 points helped the Wildcats stay close, but they eventually fell to the host team Mavericks.

“It was a game which definitely could have gone either way,” Harris said. “But there was 1 thing that wasn’t any question in your mind about, that Garnett was on another level from anybody that we had ever seen or obviously would see again.”

Mauldin fell the following round to Dorman, which lost to Irmo in the state final.

Kobe Bryant

Nearly 1 ½ years later, Harris ran into another future 1996 NBA 1st round draft selection, Kobe Bryant.

The Wildcats faced Bryant and Lower Merion High School at the 1995 Beachball Classic in Myrtle Beach. The nationally-renowned high school holiday basketball tournament was won that year by University Heights of Kentucky.

The tournament brought to the Myrtle Beach Convention Center future NBA players guard Mike Bibby of Shadow Mountain High in Arizona and center Jermaine O’Neal of Eau Claire High.

It was Bryant who drew the most attention from the 6,000 plus spectators at the Convention Center and was clearly the Aces’ main weapon.

“You knew he was going to be special,” Harris said. “You can argue about him being the best or 1 of the 2-3 best ever. But he was definitely not like anything else you’ve seen.”

Bryant posted 43 points on the Wildcats in a 76-70 victory. Heskitt also played in this game and future Northside Christian boys’ basketball coach Jason Harmon had 20 points. “We tried everything in the world,” Harris remembered. “We doubled him. We tried to trap him. We tried just to get the ball out of his hands. We were a pretty good team, but we just weren’t his match.”

That was the last contest Lexington lost en route to claiming the Class 4A title in 1996, winning 27 straight games on the way. Harris also picked up a pre-game ritual from the contest as the Wildcats began mimicking the Aces in sliding across the floor before huddling up.

Not surprisingly, Harris ranked Garnett and Bryant as the 1-2 best high school players he faced in his 30 plus years at Lexington High. Garnett’s longevity in the league and business-like approach to the game quickly won Harris over. He now calls himself the “biggest” Garnett fan.

The induction ceremony will take place Aug. 29 in Springfield, Mass.