Harry Hammonds, former owner of Harry's Bar and ex-UA basketball star, dies
Harry Hammonds, former Tuscaloosa High School and Alabama Crimson Tide basketball star who in 1972 opened the long-lived bar bearing his name, died Monday morning.
After downtown's The Chukker closed Oct. 31, 2003, having been open since 1956, Harry's Bar became the longest still-existing bar in Tuscaloosa.
More: Celebrate Local will showcase more than 40 West Alabama businesses
Hammonds made the 1330 Hargrove Road joint, not on what most UA residents would call a main drag, a place worth seeking, stocking it with live music — room for both rising locals and touring bands — and by selling the infamous Harry's Crazy Buckets — or Krazy Buck-its, for the discount price and eclectic blend of beverages and mixers — and Wiggle Worm cocktails, alongside beer and whiskey.
Like Nick Del Gatto of Nick's in the Sticks, Hammonds' aura lingered, even when he wasn't physically present, regulars and old-timers regaling newcomers with stories about the big man and his equally large presence.
Hammonds owned his namesake bar for 35 years, before selling it March 2007 to Jim Moseley, who sold it in August 2008 to current owner Jake French, a longtime Tuscaloosa restaurant-bar owner and manager. After renovations and updates to plumbing and electricity, the bar kept not only the name, but the bar's unique atmosphere.
Hammonds later said he'd sold the bar for his health, although he'd also been under scrutiny for violations that threatened his liquor license.
“I got $40,000 for that place, the most productive bar probably in the state of Alabama," Hammonds said, in a 2007 story for The Tuscaloosa News. “Now I don’t know what I’m going to do."
After graduating from UA in 1967, Hammonds had reportedly been scouted for the NBA back when there were only 10 teams, five each in eastern and western divisions.
In 1961 for the Tuscaloosa High School Black Bears, Hammonds racked up single-scoring games of 70, 50, 47 and 46 points. Listed at 6 feet and 4 inches, Hammonds played center and forward for UA, playing in 72 games, averaging 10.8 points per game, with 8.4 rebounds, a 41.1% field average, 68.5% on free throws.
He's still ranked in Tide all-time history books, tied for second all-time in single-game rebounds, with 28 in a Dec. 18, 1965, game; and 21st in season rebounding with 301 for 1965-66. Hammonds was Tide team leader in scoring for '65-'66, with 374 points over 26 games, for a 14.4 average; season rebound leader for '64-'65 and '65-66, with 245 rebounds in 26 games, an average of 9.4, and 301 rebounds in 26 games, for 11.6. In a Dec. 11, 1965, game against Southern Miss, he scored a career-high 32, which puts him at No. 66 all-time. Hammonds was an AP and UPI All-SEC pick in '66.
Legend has it Hammonds turned down all pro basketball offers, saying "I done whooped 'em in college. Don't need to whoop 'em on TV again."
Instead he turned an old service station in a bar, and, in light of his local fame, named it after himself, walled it with UA and state memorabilia, city limits and beer signs, stocked the free jukebox with country and rock classics, and filled the floor with sometimes mismatched tables and chairs, pool and billiard tables and video games. In early years, a basketball hoop hung indoors.
Friends had spoken of Hammonds having been in DCH Regional Medical Center for an extended period this spring, with COPD and neuropathy, needing oxygen at home. At press time, services had yet to be announced.
Reach Mark Hughes Cobb at mark.cobb@tuscaloosanews.com.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Harry Hammonds, former owner of Harry's Bar in Tuscaloosa, dies
