BE A BALLER -"Building a lifelong legacy"

David E. Harrison: A Legacy, Faith, Education, Mentorship and Service

• Coach Tim Brown, Uncommon Life • Season 6 • Episode 1

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Coach Tim Brown sits down with David E. Harrison—Marine veteran, deacon, mentor, and longtime leader at Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business—to explore how small daily disciplines can compound into a legacy that others call significant. From captaining Valdosta football and wrestling by spirit rather than size, to calling cadence in the Marine Corps, to raising more than $7.5 million for student scholarships and programs, David shows what it looks like to turn access into outcomes.

We walk through his adoption and two-family upbringing, the father whose third-grade education paired with foreman-level wisdom, and the habits that shaped a life of service: shine the shoes, pay the bills, open the office on time, and encourage people until they believe they can run all day. David shares how faith and brotherhood at New Salem Missionary Baptist Church inform his leadership, and how mentors like Dr. Frank Hale Jr. and Dr. William E. Nelson opened doors, demanded excellence, and modeled how to build systems that last. Along the way, he offers practical guidance on setting high goals, stewarding limited resources, and transforming success into significance.

You’ll hear about gardens on Hudson Street, the art of saving seeds, and why planting where you stand can feed a community for years. We also dig into capturing family history before it fades, trusting allies who don’t look like you, and keeping purpose fresh as new classes arrive with new needs. If you’re serious about legacy, access, equity, mentorship, and faith-driven leadership, this conversation will give you both a blueprint and a push to act today.

Enjoyed the conversation? Follow the show, share it with someone who needs the encouragement, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway. Your support helps more listeners discover stories that turn success into significance.

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SPEAKER_04:

My nickname is silver dollar. Because my dad used to collect silver dollar. And my and one of the guys, the vendors, used to bring chips and drinks and all that to my mom's grocery store. And he's he's he said, and my dad and him got in a conversation about the silver dollars. And he says, Well, which is my dad's name. I says, uh, I want to buy your silver dollars. And he says, I want my silver dollars for my son, like you want your silver dollars for your son. And my dad told him, he says, I tell you what, you put a silver dollar down, I put a silver dollar down. The man that put the last silver dollar down, he gets to buy everybody's silver dollar. He said the guy walked away.

SPEAKER_03:

He he didn't want to take a chance. Right, right. Because he didn't know how many my dad had.

SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to Be a Baller, where we're building a lifelong legacy for our families, communities, and the world. Your host, Coach Deb Brown, is excited for you to join him on this journey. On each episode, we'll be talking about how to be intentional about building a lasting legacy. We'll be exploring what it means to leave a mark that goes beyond just our lives, but it has a positive impact on those around us and even generations to come. So if you're looking for inspiration, guidance, and practical tips on how to build a lasting legacy that makes a difference, then you're in the right place. So grab your earbuds, get comfortable, and let's dive in. It's time to be a baller.

SPEAKER_02:

Welcome to Be a Baller Podcast, where we're about building a lifelong legacy for our families, our communities, and the world. I'm your host, Coach Tim Brown. Today I'm excited to have with me from the Marine Corps to Ohio State University, David E. Harris has spent his life building legacy through service, leadership, and community impact. As the longest-serving senior member at the Ohio State University, Fisher College of Business, David has secured over$7.00 in student support funding and earned countless awards for his dedication to diversity, education, and empowerment. But also, most importantly, David is a family man, four daughters, a spiritual leader, a mentor, and a fierce advocate for access and equality. Join us as we explore this Baldasa native, golf war vet, and long lifelong mentor in shaping futures and breaking barriers, one student, one program, and one legacy at a time. So, David, Ms. Terrison, welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_04:

Well, thank you, Coach. Indeed, privilege and honor to be with you today.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, take me back to uh uh you shared off air some stories about your football days down at Valdasta.

SPEAKER_04:

Valdasta, Georgia, yes, in the deep south. Right now. 15, 20 miles from the Florida, from the Florida line in South Georgia, South Central Georgia. Uh recognized as one of the winningest, not the winningest high school football team in the United States. And uh had an honor and privilege to be a part of uh that Valdasta High School winning tradition, served on the captain of the football team and captain wrestling team. Um I I wasn't the biggest, wasn't the fastest, wasn't the strongest, but uh I uh I believe it was my spirit and my heart and my tenacity. I guess recognized me among my peers as one of the best to play the game uh during that period. So excited, was on the 1978 state championship team, uh went undefeated our senior year, lost in playoffs, but uh really just a wonderful opportunity uh to serve uh on both football and wrestling teams as captain.

SPEAKER_02:

So now you shared with me a story about how Maslin and you guys won and two, and you actually your team drove all the way to the club.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, Valdos they drove all the way to uh uh Ohio uh to play uh Maslin High School. They were ranked number three all-time wins. We were number one all-time wins. This is a couple years ago. And uh we were leading at the halftime, but uh after half they had a quarterback we just couldn't contain, and they won the game. But I asked the question so why would a number one all-time win have to drive 18 hours with three or four buses and students and cheerleaders and some band members and parents and alums and friends 18 hours to play the number three teams? And and I was told that there's a rule in Ohio that Ohio schools during the regular season uh contain within the state and they don't get a chance to travel out outside as some of the other schools. Off season maybe so, but um during the regular season. So they had home field advantage, but uh we played a good game and uh we're really excited uh uh being able to continue the tradition. Our teams got a chance to go to Canton, Ohio and see the Hall of Fame. So and and some other things around around the state or in the in the Midwest. So it was really a good experience for the players as well as the coaches.

SPEAKER_02:

Can you share, sir, growing up in Bob Dossy, what were some values or lessons from your upbringing that shaped the leader and servant you are today?

SPEAKER_04:

Uh I I can share uh Coach Brown uh with you a little about my past. Um I I was adopted. I was born originally in Lummerton, North Carolina, and and uh about 11 months after uh birth, uh I was adopted. Uh, was adopted by a family that lived in Philadelphia, the uh the the church community in Lummerton. It was a teenage mother. She had already had one one uh one child before me and my older sister, and um and became Spectre again for the third child. And uh and um it was just best that she she said that she just was too much to have a son at that time in the relationship that she was in. And uh so members of the church said, we know a family of Philadelphia who would love to have David and they adopt me at 11 months old. We relocated and uh with my adopted family to Philadelphia. So the first five years of life to live in Philadelphia, North Philly, that's a tough period. Oh, yeah. Uh um, but um my uh adopted family owned some real estate and owned a grocery store, et cetera, uh invited my mother and my siblings to come to Philadelphia rent-free as long as they live to stay in Philadelphia. And so I had a chance to see my biological mother, in addition to my adopted mother and family uh on a regular basis. And so um, and um after about five years in Philadelphia, we moved to South, a warmer climate. My adopted mother uh became ill and we moved to a warmer climate, South Georgia, Valdasta, Georgia. So I grew up, went to elementary school, uh, went to middle school, high school in Valdosta. After Valdasta, I went into the Marine, uh, went to the United States, I went to uh North Carolina AT, State University Undergrad and HBCU. Uh, then went into the Marine Corps and then came to Ohio State for graduate school. Uh but when my mother, who who uh adopted me at uh fourth grade, nine years old, she passed away. Um and so I was raised by a single parent, but as many sometimes have a story that it's usually the mother, it was the father. Wow. Uh a single parent father who raised me. He was a construction worker. And uh he taught me um to be disciplined. Uh he taught me to be organized. He was a he was a performance of the construction site. So during our story in our conversation today, I'll tell a little bit more about my dad who raised me well. He relocated to Columbus before he passed away, Columbus, Ohio. Uh he passed away at 99 years old. Wow. And um he lived independently, uh, had his garden in his backyard and gave a lot, shared a lot of wisdom during that time that uh he was with us.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, yeah. Sure. Well, I don't want to get off of that. You got you got to share some of that wisdom, some of that dad wisdom with the audience. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_04:

Well, I mean, one of the things about it is uh uh he he my responsibility, uh he had a third-grade education, although he was a foreman as a construction site. Uh he was just that well to do and inversed in the construction industry. Um he uh he my assignment, I had to shine his shoes and shine my shoes each week, right? I had a weekly alliance,$10 a week. And I had to shine his shoes, my shoes, keep the house clean, do my homework, make sure I gave good grades, and he and I would pay their finances, the bills. So I would write the checkout, even at a young age, elementary school, middle school, high school, I would pay the bills uh through the funds that he had deposited in accounts, and uh, and so that way everybody had an assignment, everybody had discipline, everybody had responsibilities. And so I was taught early in life uh about the importance of taking care of business.

SPEAKER_02:

Amen. Amen. You know, you've been blessed, you and your wife. Uh tomorrow have been married for over 37 years. That's correct. And they raised four wonderful daughters. Uh, how has your family been part of your journey in service, leadership, and legacy?

SPEAKER_04:

Well, uh, I I've I was blessed to have four daughters, and uh each one of them uh uh uh understood the importance of education, right? You met them when they were growing up. Yes. Your children got a chance to, I think, play sports with some of them and do soccer and track, et cetera. And so they understood the importance of doing well in school and setting their goals high, right? The late Benjamin Mays, Elijah Mays of Morehouse College said we fail not because we don't reach our goals, we fail because we don't set high enough goals to reach. Setting high goals, and so we encourage our daughters to set high goals. All have masters or PhDs, all have doing very well, uh, and we're really excited about them. I met my wife, actually, who's uh who's a scholar uh herself uh at North Carolina ET in the cafeteria. And so uh she transferred from North Carolina, actually, University of North Carolina to uh in Chappa Hill to Greensboro, North Carolina, North Carolina AT, uh her sophomore year, and um uh beginning her junior year, I should say. And uh and uh I tell her, I said, you know, you left Chappa Hill, Worthy, Perkins, Jordan, all of them was was was at Chappa Hill. I said, You left them in North Carolina, Chappa Hill to come to AT while I was at, right? And so uh, but I met her in the cafeteria and I asked her, could I have lunch with her? She came through the door and she says, yes, and 37 years. We dated five years, so 42 years uh we've been together. And so I really just blessed to have Tamara, my wife, uh, with me over these years.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, what a story, what a story. Cafeteria, huh? Yeah. Now that lunch, that lunch, was it in the cafeteria? Did you take her to lunch?

SPEAKER_04:

Well, the lunch was in the cafeteria. In fact, you know, I have a story for it. She probably wants me to tell her the story. She says it didn't go like that, but she came. She was coming in the line. I was standing in the line with my roommate, and I saw her came through the door. I said, Man, I'll catch you later. So I saw the young lady walk through the line. So I followed over the line and said, Can I have lunch with you? She says, Yes, you can, right? And so um, and so um, so we got in the line and they they were serving, it was on the hot side. They had a cold side down the side, on the hot side, but it was steamed up. And so she said, Miss William, what's what's what's in what's in uh in the menu for the day? And I said, My smart self, I said, David's the menu for the day, right? Oh, what's that? And she she says, you're right. She said, Miss William, what's what's for lunch for the day? And she says, he says David for the day is lunch for the day. She said, Well, give me some David. And so I and so I've been working hard. And she said it didn't even go like that. I said, that's my that's how I recalled it. But but that's uh really how we met uh there and um and really how Aunt T really provided opportunity for us to learn and to grow and to reach our fullest potential.

SPEAKER_02:

Amen. Amen. You know, you I know faith is important to you and your faith and your service at uh at New Salem Missionary Baptist Church, where you're chairman of the deacon board. Um can you can you share with all how faith has guided your decisions and sustained you over the years?

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, and I'm under the leadership. Uh my father was a deacon uh when he relocated to Columbus. He served in the deacon ministry with us at New Salem under the leadership of Reverend Dr. Keith A. Troy, who's a Morehouse person, so spent some time from Warren, Ohio, and moved to uh some time down in Georgia at Morehouse himself before going to Rochester for grad school and itself in theological studies. But under his leadership, we've been able to grow and reach our potential. I've served as chairman of his uh our deacon's ministry some 16 plus years now, and we have a wonderful ministry, some 16 brothers, uh all are leaders in their community, all are leaders in their family, all are driven and charged by uh the Lord Most High to reach their fullest potential and to do their best. And so when you're around good brothers, right? Like-minded brothers who want to do well, who want to uh make their family proud, who want to make their community proud, um, that's what we're motivated by, right? Reaching our best. None of us are perfect, but we strive for perfection each day. We pray, we read our scriptures, and uh and we be the best men that we can be.

SPEAKER_02:

Amen. You know, you started your Ohio State journey back in 1987 with the uh Minority Scholars Program under the late Dr. Frank Hale Jr. How did Dr. Hale's mentorship influence your career and passion for advancing opportunities for others?

SPEAKER_04:

I think Dr. Hale said he saw leadership in me and he he saw my tenacity. Um even at a young, younger uh staff member coming in, he says, David, I want to make you office manager. And so so uh we were housed in Lincoln Tower, the 10th floor Lincoln Tower. We had uh multiple floors at fifth floor, tenth floor, and maybe another floor also. But he wanted to make me office manager, like supplies and the copy machine and make sure things were taken care of, make sure that the staff, the offices were open in the morning and people were answering the phones and did the scheduling for front desk duty and all those kinds of things. And and so he says, David, you're on time and say you're gonna encourage others to be on time. He said, They might fuss about it, but don't worry about it. He says you just make sure that you keep them and have the office and everything running tight. And so that's what we did. And and uh he said he was excited about it. The late Dr. Hale, who's a mentor of mine, had a book called Angels Watching Over Me. And in his book, he spoke of uh of uh the leadership that I, at even my young age, was able to provide for him. So I started with him in 1987. I started at the university as a grad student in 86. And so I worked under the uh Dr. Max Stewart, and uh uh I got a chance to uh to come to the university with funding. When I left the Marine Corps and came to Ohio State for grad school, uh most of the funding had been exhausted. I applied rather late in the process. And I had a fraternity brother that um members of my fraternity says, when you get to Ohio State University, which is the 10th chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, founded, uh, 10th chapter, uh, meet with Dr. Nick Nelson, William E. Nelson. Uh he is the chairman of the Black Studies Department, and he's also a full professor there and full professor in the Department of Political Science. Meet Dr. Nelson when you come from North Carolina and you come up to Ohio State University. One of the first people you need to meet is Dr. Nick Nelson. So I met him and we sat down and talked. He said, David, I'm very impressed with you, son. Yo man, I am. I'm very impressed with you. He says, What? He says, Oh, he says, it's kind of late now for funding. He says, uh, what are you gonna do? I said, I got a loan that I've applied to Dr. Nelson. He says, I tell you what, I'm opening up a facility on Mount Vernon, Mount Vernon um uh um uh community resource center on Mount Vernon Avenue, and you and I got three or four other uh students, graduate students, working on their master's degree and PhDs, he says, I want you to work there. He says, I apply for a grant. He says, if the grant don't come through, you just take the loan and see can it get you through the first year? He said, but if if the loan comes through, we're gonna tear up those loan papers and we we got your funding for your first year. And sure enough, the grant came through. And Dr. Nelson and Dr. Upton and Sister Robinson over at the Mount Vernon's Black Studies Extension Center gave me an opportunity to get on my feet. And while I was doing some of those research in the community, is what he was charging me to do. Um uh he um he I I uh Dr. Hell met me at one of the committees and said, You got some nice reports there, young man. It was tight writing then. You know, we were printing off into it. We were tight right there. Look, ink, uh the white out on the you back it up, you back it up and get a couple keys and correct something. And he said, But your reports are so tight. And and um he says, uh, I tell you what, I need you to come on my staff full time um and uh be a recruiter. I want you to be the Columbus from Franklin County recruiter, high school. There were some 40 high schools, public, parochial, private high schools in the area, suburban schools included, some 40 schools. And so I had to do like uh two in the morning to two in the afternoon when doing recruitment season. So that's how it started in 1987 under Dr. Hill in the Black Studies, I mean in uh the Office of Minority Affairs at that time. Um and uh Max Stewart over in University College actually gave me an appointment also in the interim uh and helped us out as an academic advisor. And then in 93 I started in Fisher.

SPEAKER_02:

Wow, that's a great story. You know, over your career you secured more than$7.5 million in grants for scholarships, fellowships, and programming. What drives your dedication to create access and opportunities for students?

SPEAKER_04:

I think I've heard in my story, uh, others have encouraged me. When I was in church growing up, my mom passed, um, the other deaconess and the other sisters and the brothers of the church were able to just to give what resource they have. I had more friends uh uh that I had from the community, and they probably called me son and daughters, their parents, because I was always over their house eating and playing basketball in their backyard because I was growing up as a uh as a sibling by myself. And so uh so what gave me the motivation and courage to help others is because others helped me. C. H. Mitchell, uh, the late chairman of the Sunday school superintendent down in Val Druster, Georgia, had me when I was in high school, said, David, we want to be assistant Sunday school superintendent. Right now. I said, that's too much weight for me. Uh Deacon Mitchell, I said, that's too much for him. He said, No, no. I said, Do I have to be the assistant superintendent? Why can't I just be a helper? He said, No, no, I gotta give you a title so people do what you say do. And so he would, I would help pull papers together and and materials so that we'd have a good Sunday school class, and he would be the chairman of the Sunday school, and uh and he had a barbecue stand, CH Mr. Barbecue down in Valdasta, Georgia. Man, you're talking about some good barbecue. Uh and uh after after school, middle school and high school, I would go by and he would teach me how to barbecue, and I would wash dishes and have a little fun there until my dad got home from the construction site. Uh and then I and then uh then uh he would pick me up or I would ride my bike on home after he got home. So um, but it was those kinds of people who helped me and encouraged me uh to do well um as I was growing up and as I was uh preparing for life also. Yep. So giving back and making a contribution. So the$7 million uh through grants that we raised helped others go to school. Some 300 students in my office. I've been in Fisher for 32 years now, uh, from 93 to date. And uh we have six to seven to eight grad students per year that work in our office. Many of them receive funds through grants over the years. So they got their master's degrees uh in and got MBAs and master's accounting, master's finance, master's in human resource degrees uh in business over those years by doing service and working in the office, right? And they got half tuition or all of their tuition covered. But these are lives touch, right? And so uh to this day uh they they they stay in touch. And I'm very fortunate to say that uh we now have started an endowment, right? The former students of mine uh have an endowment in our name, my wife and my name at Ohio State. Usually, uh coach, you don't get an endowment unless you're deceased or retired. Right, right. I uh I've neither deceased or retired yet. And uh, but that be blessed to have an endowment uh close to 300,000 now. Oh wow. Um, and it takes at least 100,000 to start to secure that endowment. But alums, yes, friends in the community, uh family members have contributed to the success. So uh those who hear your podcard might want to give uh to contribute to the success that we have at Ohio State so that other students um uh can have an opportunity to reach their full potential as well.

SPEAKER_02:

That's powerful. You know, as you look back, uh when you first stepped into higher education work, did you imagine staying at Ohio State for nearly four decades? Uh uh Coach, I didn't.

SPEAKER_04:

I didn't. I I say it often. I um I I was strategic uh in coming and saying I'll be here a couple years. The master's program was two years, master's in political science, public policy. In theory, it was a two-year program. Uh but during that time, uh, I got engaged uh for my wife who who left AT and went to Pittsburgh, Westinghouse.

SPEAKER_05:

Okay.

SPEAKER_04:

And so by being in the Marine Corps reserved at the time, I had my reserve unit shifted to Pittsburgh. So I got every month I would go to Pittsburgh. So two weeks in, she would come to Columbus to visit me. So then the next two weeks I had to go to Pittsburgh for drilling. And so uh uh so I got a chance to for us to see each other at least a couple times a month uh while I was in grad school. And after completing grad school in 1988, um we uh got married. And um and she relocated to Columbus, Ohio. And fate have it that she got a job at Ohio State University in the research foundation. And she worked there for six, seven years, eight years, and now she's with the Ohio Department of Health. Um and uh she's doing very well as one of the uh lead accountants uh in the in that area. And so uh really excited. Um, but uh that's kind of how that that story kind of wind up uh to be able to do that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

I done learned more about your wife sitting here, you know, got to get her on the shows, make sure these stories is accurate.

SPEAKER_04:

Well, I tried to do my best, you know.

SPEAKER_02:

She said I stretched some of them, but you know, in the span of those 40 years of service at Ohio State, what are the biggest changes you witness in higher education and what still needs to be done to truly empower students from diverse backgrounds?

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, you you see people coming and going and say, Well, how can you continue to uh to to do and to to to motivate? Um you've got a lot of awards, you've got a lot of accomplishments. Um the beauty of the the arena that we serve in is that uh you can have a wall full of accomplishments and and and stories to tell, but it it renews itself because you have a new class of students that's coming in each year. And they they get their parents and grandparents are now telling them about some of the things we've done in in 40 years, right? And so so their parents and and uncles and and and and uh and cousins are telling them about Mr. Harrison, but that's great. But Mr. Harrison, what can you do for me? You help my brother, yeah. You help my mom and dad too. But I see you tracks it, your trophies and plagues, but that ain't helping me. I need some scholarship money myself. And so so that's what helps keep us going because um new people coming in need opportunities and need to be encouraged and they need hope. And companies uh are are are are renewing themselves and and and uh and but we're not allowing the changes of the day to impact the pit our potential to help make a difference. We've had to do a lot of changes. We've we've we've had to broaden our our net and cast our net wider, and we've had to um um redevelop and restructure and restrategize. Um, but we keep moving forward, right? Uh because there's much work still to be done.

SPEAKER_02:

You've been called a connector and a bridge builder. Um thinking of that, what does legacy mean to you and how do you hope people remember your impact?

SPEAKER_04:

Well, um, you know, uh our our pastor, uh Dr. Troy, he he speaks of uh having a goal initially, and that goal is to be successful. Well, success can be uh people define success. So I set my own goals, somebody else says, and so I can say I'm successful um um in some uh before somebody else can because I have set my own internal goals. He says it's once you get successful, uh categorized, then significance is where you need to be looking at, right? And so Dr. Troy speaks of significant, being significant. Um, and I can't tell somebody else I'm significant in your life, right? You can tell me if I'm successful, but it's really my definition of successful that really determines that. But it's your definition of significance. I can't say I'm significant to you. You can tell me if I'm significant or not. My goal is to be significant to others, right? To be able to make a difference in their lives, to be able to impact them in some kind of way, to motivate them, encourage them to do better, to be better, and to extend and and and and uh and uh I have learned through life that if you encourage folks, they can make it. I when I I I shared with you when I was when I was playing football down in South Georgia, man, I was one of the I played offensive guard. But I wrestled at 148. Okay, but I played football at 165, 170.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

Off season, I drop weight, yeah. Football, I pick it back up. So I never really got big in football as I could have been, right? Um, and because I was losing for foot for wrestling, I was breaking down my you know, uh my weight back down. And so, but what I could do is I could make the big lineman, man, that was two, two hundred, two fifty. Um, I would make them block, knock down a wall. I could make the dudes on defense because I was motivating, man.

SPEAKER_05:

Right, right.

SPEAKER_04:

Oh man, even when I went to the Marine Corps, man, I called cadence, man. I whew, man. I was a drill sergeant. Oh we could run all day long, brother. Because we would, you know, you had that spirit in you, man. Yeah, that's it. And that spirit to call cadence, and that spirit to motivate people and encourage them. And then run all day and never get tired, man. And so that's what we did down in down in the down in the down in South Georgia, man, on those dirt roads. We we we would motivate each other, man, to to reach our fullest potential and and try to win all the championships we could win.

SPEAKER_02:

That's good. That's good. That's good. So we're gonna start adding adding the word the motivator to you. To your title. You know, uh, this is a podcast. Uh a lot of young professional students, community listen uh leaders listen to this podcast. What advice would you give them about building a legacy that outlives them?

SPEAKER_04:

Is is to look at what resources are available around you. Right? Um and it's all in context, right? What people some people need is a pot full, a bucket full of resources. If I just have a cup full of resources, it's how you manage, how you discipline yourself to do that what you really need, and it grows. I gotta believe that my faith is if I can take one step in the right direction, I serve right um a God that will help me make it to the second and the third. And I think if if I use the little resources I have, he replenishes those resources, right? The the God that I believe in. The scriptures, the old folks used to say, I was young, now I'm old, but I've never seen right the righteous forsaken or their seed begging bread. I don't remember begging. Man, let me tell you, my we lived on the dirt road coming up. My dad was construction working, and my dad said, I always want for you what the other man wants for his son. And so my you know, um, my nickname is silver dollar. And uh and so because my dad used to collect silver dollars. There's a story behind that one. It is, and my my mom, I tell you, she passed away, but before she did, she had a little grocery store down in Georgia. And one of the guys, the vendors used to bring chips and drinks and all that to my mom's grocery store um was uh uh a gentleman. Um, and uh he was a white guy, and he's he's he said, and my dad and him got in a conversation about the silver dollars. And he says, Well, you, which is my dad's name, I says, uh, I want to buy your silver dollars. And he says, uh, I want my silver dollars for my son, like you want your silver dollars for your son. And my dad told him, he says, I tell you what, you put a silver dollar down, I put a silver dollar down. The man that put the last silver dollar down, he gets to buy everybody's silver dollar down. He said the guy walked away.

SPEAKER_03:

He didn't want to take a chance because he didn't know how many my dad had. And he didn't know how many resources my dad had to pay all of his silver dollars.

SPEAKER_04:

He wanted to buy my dad's, my dad said, and so that's the story of if you just do a little bit. Come on. Oh man. My dad, I I I just want one one one additional story to tell you about my dad. My dad lived on Hushin Street. And so, and on Hudson Street, my dad brought his skills from down south, and he would have vegetables planted in his backyard on Hudson Street, man. He would have sweet potatoes, collard greens, he would have turnips, he would have kale, and I mean, right? And he's peanuts. I mean, sweet potatoes on Hudson Street, man. And uh and get right on Hudson Street. And so he would have so many till he put some on a table in the front. People come by and say, hey, Mr. Harrison, you know, can I get some collard greens? Get you a few of them now. Don't get them all. Just get you a few. Somebody else might want something. And we'd be giving people collard greens just to have conversations with them. And so I call it, I grow uh greens also and teach people greens and all that kind of things about growing and all that kind of things. I tell them about the seeds. When you grow collard greens, right, don't cut the stem all the way off. Will the leaves off of them, and it's still gonna be growing from the root up. But it'll grow a long stem up and it has branches on it, and those will be seeds, pods, little tiny pods, like the mustard seed, a collard green seed is real small. But they eventually dry up and fall off. But you gotta catch them before they fall off or before the birds or something come and get the collard green seeds. But if you have one season for 20 years, you could be eating collard greens because they produce their own seed.

unknown:

Wow. Oh man.

SPEAKER_04:

Man, that's a story. That's good. See, people know about fishing, you know. Show them how to fish, teach them how to fish, they can fish for life, but show them how to plant. You won't go hungry, man. And you see what I drive, man. I drive a pickup truck. Right, right, right. I'm gonna always be able to make it, man. But you know, but uh, those are some life stories, man. Yeah, that's good stuff. But uh the bibli to impact lives, as you know, there's 67,000, 68,000 students at Ohio State University. The college business itself has 11,000 plus students, um, 10,000, uh a little over 10,000 undergraduate students and another thousand graduate students in the college business alone, right? And so when you think about um the magnitude and the impact, South Georgia Town coming to the 15th largest city in the United States and being able to make a difference. From a small city, probably 50,000 on a good day, on football game, man. I don't know if you know it, man. I uh when we would talk about Valdasta State University. Now, a lot of high schools around here play on the college field sometimes, right? Play on college field. Did you know that the college field, the college team plays on the high school team field?

SPEAKER_05:

Whoa.

SPEAKER_04:

On Saturdays. Wow. On Friday, that's our that's our high school field. Wow. Death Valley, down in Val Doster. But on Saturday, Val Dostas State University plays on our field. Change the colors. Wow. Okay, do whatever you do with the field. Yeah. And and we change it back on Friday because that's that's our field.

SPEAKER_02:

Sure, sure. That's number one. Number one winners team in the country.

unknown:

Okay.

SPEAKER_04:

And so that's how big. So when I say look, 50,000, maybe on a good day might be 50,000 if we include the visitors coming in, this whole city. Um, but when you at when I was growing up, 30,000 folk, 35,000, 50,000, you know, and then we had two high schools, a cross town rival and us, Lowndes High School and Valester High School. Those two teams, wait man, we we took care of business. Winnersville, USA, that's really what they're talking about. ESPN got a special on it on Valester football and South Georgia football. So really, that's really, when you think about my my point I was trying to make is a small town person coming to a big town. I never set the standard as a stage of how much resources the university was providing me. Nope. The amount, the little amount that I think was perceived that I was receiving, oh man, gave me enough to feed family, help community, pay my tithes, you know. My kids graduate from school, no loans. You know, that's what I'm saying, man. And they got masters and PhDs. Come on, man. That's God's work.

SPEAKER_02:

Just do a little bit, and He takes care of the rest. Man, sounds like you've been on that principle, one man plants, another one waters. That's right. God gets the increase. God gives the increase. He's got a lot of increase out of you for sure. I hear you, coach. Sound like you know what you're talking about. Oh, yeah. Well, I'm gonna take you back one more time because you you know, you're trying to get your 40 minutes in. It's been an honor and pleasure, man, just to share to share with you. As we go back, um and give can you give some advice to your younger self? You know, what would you tell that younger self who's from Philadelphia, the Georgia, Marine Corps, AT, North Carolina AT, and all my what would you tell? What advice you give younger self? Take me back to young David.

SPEAKER_04:

Um, I would have taken more notes for my aunts and my uncles. My dad, he passed away 99 years old uh in 2014. Uh great uncle, he was 105. My my my auntie, she's in her 90s. Another aunt was in her 80s. Um taking more notes, man, from and I'm considered more the historian in the family. But if I could have taken even more notes, right, I I I got a lot of the family hair loans that we save and we we we we we share with other relatives and and that kind of thing. But uh the pictures and the photographs is one thing, and and the artifacts, the you know, the pottery and all those kinds of things uh that they valued and appreciated for 200 years because they got them from their parents, right? Uh young adults now don't value the small things like that. Granddaddy's watch or or mom's necklace or um photos and pictures. Uh they got them on their phones now, right? And so it's a little different, right? It's not good or bad, it's just a little different, the things that we very we've revalued and cherished. It would be trying to instill more, having more conversations, uh being able to video some of those conversations with my my elders, right? Um in their stories. Writing more. I I got good notes, I gotta compile, I need to do books myself, right? I need to be bringing some of those notes. Thousands of students we've helped over the years, right? And I can call them a lot of them by names when I see them and that kind of thing. But being able to put it down on paper, because um I'm not sure the story will ever be told. Um, and it might be interpreted differently over the years, right? That's usually sometimes what happens.

SPEAKER_02:

And you kind of hit on why why I do this podcast. Yes, right. And that is to give people a chance to tell their own story. Because all them stories that you that you've shared in this conversation, you know, those are your stories, those are real. You know, it's not somebody else sharing it, but you're saying it, you're sharing it. And it'll live on. It'll live on, it'll live on. Uh through your children, your grandchildren, you never look back. Man, my dad's nickname was Silver Dollar, my granddad was Silver Dollar.

unknown:

You know?

SPEAKER_04:

Let me tell you one thing, final thing that I would share with you, that I that I would, that I valued and had an opportunity to do it. Um, different people helped you. Sometimes we ourselves are not in the arena. And so we have to have a trust that somebody can help me that's an ally and advocate that may not look like us. Right. Not from our own community. And I think sometimes we fall short because we don't have enough trust to allow someone else that may not look like me to help me and to give me support and encouragement and allow me to help them reach their potential. So if I could pass a word to others, and sometimes it's our upbringing, sometimes if our experiences that make us worry about trusting others. But sometimes we we don't have a choice but to take a chance and allow someone else to help us reach our potential. And if I could share that word with others, is um give others an opportunity as you give others opportunity. That's good. That's good.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, David, I want to thank you for sharing uh your wisdom, your journey, and your heart with us today. Your impact at Ohio State and the community and church and your family is a powerful example of what it truly means to be a baller, someone that builds a legacy that lasts. To our listeners, I hope you enjoyed today's conversation and been challenged and inspired to think about the legacy you're building. Remember, being a baller is not just about success, it's about significance. So, Dave, I want to thank you for being a part of the show today. And so until next time, I'm Coach Tim Brown. Everybody keep balling, keep building, and leaving a mark that will outlive you. Thank you for the opportunity.

SPEAKER_01:

If you've enjoyed this episode, please share it with family and friends. The Be a Baller Podcast is available on all major podcast platforms. This podcast was created by Coach Tim Brown and recorded and edited by the video production class of Worthington Christian High School. Be sure to come back next week as we continue to discuss on how to build a lifelong legacy. Until then, don't forget to be a baller.