A South Florida high school honored a trailblazing alumnus by raising her high school jersey to the gym’s rafters. Miami Edison Senior High School welcomed former WNBA All-Star Marie Ferdinand-Harris back with open arms on Friday. “Stay hungry, dare to dream. I just dared to dream,” said Ferdinand-Harris. “Don’t ever let your environments shrink your vision.” Ferdinand-Harris gave students at her alma mater important advice after forging her own path, including helping the USA Basketball Women’s Select win the gold medal at the Jones Cup during the 2000 Olympics in Taipei. She was also the first Haitian-American woman to play in the WNBA. Before she accomplished all those dreams, she started her path in the halls of Miami Edison Senior High School. “You know, just walking up, the stairs are still intact after all these years,” said Ferdinand-Harris. The Miami native helped lead her high school squad to a national championship as a sophomore and was named Florida Prep Player of the Year in 1995. The school honored her many contributions by retiring her jersey, the number 3 emblazoned on the back below her name. It also features Louisiana State University, where she played college basketball, and the Utah Starzz, the professional team that drafted her in 2001. “When I played here back in 1997, we won the first girls’ basketball championship at this school, which made headlines. It was a big accomplishment, so to come back and be celebrated for hard work, keeping a good attitude, being respectful, showing great character, and being a person of service, it’s an honor,” said Ferdinand-Harris. The jersey now hangs high above the school’s gymnasium as a sign of inspiration for what’s possible for students. John Burks, the school’s former basketball coach, said kids will be able to see her jersey and know that no obstacle they encounter can stop them from reaching the highest peaks they dream of, so long as they put in the work. “This is where she grew up at, and a lot of kids I speak to and I coach now, the biggest thing I stressed to them is be great, you know, be able to understand how you can make it out this environment and be able to be successful on the collegiate level, whether you play sports or whether you don’t play sports,” said Burks. Burks said that since he first knew Ferdinand-Harris, she has always had a drive to succeed, which has led to her earning several accolades in her career. “I think Marie has a large resume, being the first Haitian-American female athlete to play at a Division-I school, to take the team to the Final Four, to win state championships on a high school level, only playing for me, for what, maybe three years, WNBA champion, WNBA MVP, WNBA Rookie of the Year, a gold medal in the Olympics, so it’s like, you know, you have a player that grew up right here in Little Haiti,” said Burks. Ferdinand-Harris was named a WNBA All-Star three times before retiring in 2011. In her post-athletic career, Ferdinand-Harris has dedicated her efforts to the neighborhood that helped raise her, establishing a foundation in her name that promotes girls’ education and uses basketball as a tool to help young girls realize their full potential. “I would definitely say, ‘Hey, I sat right where they’re sitting right now.’ I would tell them, ‘Do not ever let their environment shrink their vision,'” said Ferdinand-Harris. ...read more read less