Bob Harstad

Robert Joseph Harstad (born February 7, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. In a career spanning between 1991 and 2001, Harstad played for six different teams at the highest leagues in Spain and Portugal. In his post-basketball career he has been working for Ackerman McQueen, an ad agency, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

College Born in Loveland, Colorado, Harstad led Thompson Valley High School to a conference championship during his junior year and state champion runner-up his senior year. In a decidedly Big 12 Conference region of the country, Harstad instead signed to play for Tony Barone at Creighton University, a Missouri Valley Conference school in Nebraska.

Over the next three seasons, Harstad guided the Bluejays to a very successful stretch in its program's history, meanwhile earning personal accolades and setting still-standing records. In his sophomore and senior years, Creighton won both the regular season and conference tournament championships en route to berths into the 1989 and 1991 NCAA Tournaments, respectively. Harstad finished his collegiate career with 2,110 points and 1,126 rebounds, which as of 2011–12 are both the second most in school history.

Professional Harstad did not get selected in the 1991 NBA draft but did sign as a free agent with the Utah Jazz. He was released after summer league, so he went overseas to play professionally. He spent 10 seasons in Europe, the first nine of which were in Spain playing for five different teams. In 1996–97, while playing for Cantabria Baloncesto, he was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the Liga Española de Baloncesto (LEB). He was an all-star selection both that season and the next. Before the 2001–02 season, Harstad was cut from F.C. Porto, a Portuguese club. Due to bad knees and a deteriorating body he decided to retire and move back to the United States.

Personal Although he attended Creighton for four years, it was not until the summer of 1993 when he finished his final 13 credit hours, thus his official graduation year is actually 1993, not 1991. Since May 2022, Harstad has been working at Feed the Children, in Oklahoma City. He is married to Lori Harstad and has two sons, Jack and Luke and two stepchildren, Gavin and Phoebe.