Former Irvine Valley standout men's basketball player Ronnie Harris (Aliso Viejo High) was recently featured in a story in the Orange County Register about how difficult it was to get back home to Orange County due to the coronavirus pandemic while playing professionally overseas. Harris was having an outstanding season so far with Akademija FMP team in Kopje, North Madeconia. He is pictured with his mother, Teisha Harris.
Coronavirus chases OC basketball player all over the world
By Keith Sharon, Orange County Register
(Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Magic Johnson held the basketball aloft and explained that this bouncy piece of leather had taken him around the world.
Little Ronnie Harris, who was in second grade at the time, would never forget the words of the former Lakers star.
"I always wanted to do the things I loved: travel and basketball," said Harris, who played at Aliso Niguel High, Irvine Valley College and Sonoma State.
Who could have guessed how scary that advice would become?
He is now thinking hard about where he wants to play next season … if there is a next season.
You might be surprised by his dream spot for resuming his career.
Check the map
Ronnie Harris' professional basketball odyssey began with a mistake.
The 6-foot-3 point guard was playing a pickup game in south Orange County when he was approached by a man who said he might be able to help him get a spot on a roster in Madagascar.
Madagascar is a tiny island off the east coast of Africa.
The country with the basketball league where Ronnie Harris could play actually was North Macedonia. After some initial confusion, Harris accepted a spot on the Akademija FMP team in Skopje, North Macedonia. He would have played anywhere, even Madagascar.
On Sept. 26, 2019, Harris landed in North Macedonia, which is north of Greece and just south of Kosovo in southeastern Europe.
"The street signs had kilometers," he said. "Everything was foreign to me. But it was cool to soak it all up. I loved it."
He had a two-bedroom apartment, and he worked out three times per day. He hiked to the top of Mount Vodno where he could see the entire city of Skopje. He was on top of the world.
His game was at a high point, too. In his second, third and fourth games as a professional, he scored 29, 33 and 23 points, respectively. He was in talks to continue his career in another professional league in Russia.
Then, in March: disaster.
His mother, Teisha, called him March 9 and begged him to come home. Ronnie wanted to wait.
"I could not breathe all day," Teisha said. "I had the worst anxiety … a mother's intuition is always right. Well, it is true."
The coronavirus threatened to shut down his season (he didn't know it would also shut down most of the world). Harris had two games left on the schedule, and he wanted to keep playing. He had worked so hard for so many years to get there.
So even after some of his teammates left North Macedonia, and a few other teammates came down with flu-like symptoms, Harris decided to stay on the chance that his season would resume.
That proved to be a mistake. While he was waiting to see if his season was over, the airport closed. Then the country closed off its borders.
Just when he decided he had to get home, "It was too late," he said.
He went to the airport, but there were no flights. So he went back to his apartment and waited for two weeks.
'A person who cared'
Behind the scenes, Teisha Harris was working. She wrote to every political big shot she could think of. When she didn't get what she felt was a satisfactory answer, she started tweeting about her American son being stuck in North Macedonia.
One of her emails went to Rep. Harley Rouda (D-Laguna Beach).
Just as she was about to give up hope that her emails were being read by human beings, she got a return email from Matt Jackson, a foreign affairs legislative assistant in Rouda's office.
"Finally, it was a person who cared," Teisha Harris said.
Jackson was in touch with the U.S. embassy in North Macedonia.
"We immediately raised Mr. Harris' case with State Department personnel, contacted the Macedonian embassy, and helped arrange transportation to ensure Mr. Harris could travel home safely," Jackson said. "In the time of COVID-19, this work is more important than ever – our office is fighting to make sure the people of Orange County get the assistance they deserve from their government."
"I am forever grateful," she said.
"To me, this job is about more than just passing legislation in D.C. — it's about serving the people of Orange County," Rouda said. "Matt, and my entire team, are a testament to that spirit of service. They have been working around the clock to get our neighbors, like Mr. Harris, home."
Harris spent almost 20 days in his apartment. He was working out with heavy jugs filled with water, trying to stay in shape for a season that would never come.
On Saturday, March 28, he got an email from the U.S. embassy. The topic of that email: One Flight.
He responded, "Yes, put me on it."
His mother got the news in Aliso Viejo.
"The best message I ever got from his coach," she said. "There may be a flight home."
Representatives from the embassy picked him up and took him to the airport.
Dream destination?
The plan was to get Ronnie Harris from Skopje to Vienna to Amsterdam to Chicago to Los Angeles. But when he landed in Vienna, he was told that Americans weren't being allowed in Amsterdam. Six Americans waiting for that flight were turned away.
Later, Harris found that he was given wrong information. There was no ban on Americans in Amsterdam, but he had already booked another flight.
"I had to reroute my whole trip," he said.
He found a flight to Frankfurt where he had to spend the night in the airport. He slept in what is called a "pod." In reality, it was like a small hotel room with a bathroom, shower and television. "It was very nice," he said.
On March 31, he touched down in Newark, and then flew to Los Angeles where his mother was waiting … with Lysol spray. She cleaned every piece of his luggage.
But she didn't hug him. And that was tough.
"We just gave each other the nod with our masks on," she said. "It was creepy. I will be honest, I did not picture me picking him up with masks on ever, and especially not being able to hug."
She still hasn't hugged him. They are keeping their distance inside the apartment. Some of his family members have waved to him. His girlfriend hasn't yet seen him.
"It feels really good to be home with my mom," Harris said.
Because he came from Europe, he has been advised to quarantine for two weeks.
Isolation has given him a lot of time to think.
"I need to go back to the drawing board," Harris said. "Do I really want to put myself through that again?"
He said the answer was easy.
"I'm going to go for it," he said. He's working out three times per day in his apartment. "He's eating me out of house and home," Teisha said.
And where would he play, if he could pick any spot in the world?
"Italy," he said, knowing that country has been one of the hardest hit by the coronavirus.
He has hope that he can get back to basketball.
"Italy is a beautiful country with really good basketball," he said.
