[GeoPoto]

Back in Toledo, Harmon co-captained the university’s basketball team and was the second-leading scorer in the 1947-48 and 1948-49 seasons. Prior to his signing with the Browns, which ended his collegiate baseball eligibility, he also earned three varsity letters in baseball.

In 1948 Harmon played baseball with the independent General Electric team out of Fort Wayne, Indiana, then returned to Gloversville in 1949. Later that summer the Browns sent him to the Olean, New York, team in the Pennsylvania-Ontario-New York League, where he batted .351 in 31 games. It was the first of five consecutive seasons in the minors that Harmon batted .300-plus. He remained with Olean for the next two seasons. In 1951, he hit .375 while leading the league with 143 RBIs, as the team won the pennant.

Despite his hot hitting, Harmon was not getting the call to the majors, so he also pursued a career in professional basketball. He was one of the final players cut by first-year coach Red Auerbach from the 1951 Boston Celtics. Had he made that team, he would have been one of the first African Americans in the NBA. He did, however, become the first African American to coach in integrated professional basketball, leading the Eastern League’s Utica, New York, team as a player/coach.

Harmon returned his focus to baseball in 1952, when he was acquired by the Cincinnati Reds. He spent two more years in the minors, including the 1952 season with the Burlington (Iowa) Flints of the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League, batting .319 in 124 games. In 1953, he was promoted to the AA Tulsa Oilers, becoming the first African American player in the history of the Texas League’s Tulsa franchise, and batted .311 with 83 RBIs, 14 home runs, and 25 stolen bases in 143 games.

That winter, the Reds sent Harmon to Puerto Rico for winter ball, where Harmon was second in the league in hitting, beating out future home-run king Hank Aaron.