NEW YORK, October 28, 2005 -- If you’ve seen “Arachnophobia” seventeen times, you might consider “Spida” a scary guy. In person, however, David Harrison -- the proud owner of that many-legged moniker -- is about as easy a player to root for as any among the 32 “Last Man Standing” Finalists who will fight it out to a furious finish this Sunday at Madison Square Garden. Madison Square Garden’s Last Man Standing One on One Basketball Tournament is presented by McDonald’s® and Game Over, and benefits the Ronald McDonald House Charities® of New York.

“If I could win this thing it would be huge, it would be a stepping-stone toward the direction my life is going,” the easy-going Harrison says. “I’m going to have a new baby in January. So while I know $2,000 is not all that much money these days, it would be a lot of money for me right now.”

The child on the way will be an awesome addition to Harrison’s life; he is a substitute teacher in all five boroughs, “teaching any grade, any subject, any time they want me,” he says with a smile. “Kids are my life,” he adds. “Even when I was growing up, my mother used to tell me ‘you will be working with kids.’ I even coach a youth basketball team in the Almighty Force League in Brooklyn and Queens. I really want to give them the right values and keep them out of trouble. Basketball is a small thing but it can be big to a kid growing up. I know that if I didn’t have basketball I wouldn’t have my education. I feel that pointing young people in the right direction is the most important thing a person could do.”

The 30 year-old Harrison was a 6-7 power forward at Div. II Salem International University in West Virginia and has played professionally in Argentina, Finland, Mexico, and a number of other exotic places. “The best I’ve faced was the Junk Yard Dog and Stevie Francis,” he says. “We were just coming out of college bit it was obvious those guys were going places.” Spida himself still carries the NBA dream, of course. “I know it’s getting a bit late,” he smiles. “But if I could be noticed by the right people on Sunday…”

“It’s an opportunity to showcase my talent on one of the biggest stages not only in New York but in the world,” he adds. “To have some fun, to compete AND maybe be noticed… It would mean everything.”

Spida played everything BUT basketball while growing up. “I was a baseball player then converted to football,” he recalls. “But people kept on begging me to play hoops because I was so tall -- and I finally gave in. But I didn’t play basketball until the age of 16.”

Harrison first heard about “Last Man Standing” “from one of my street ball coaches, Mousey.” Naturally, the Terror Squad mentor and long-armed floor-burner hooked up at the Entertainers’ Basketball Classic at Rucker Park. “I’ve played there, for the Rich Soil Mon stars,” says Spida. “I play King Dome. I play everywhere. Every league you can name, I play in.”

Play hard, too. “That’s how I got the nickname, first from my high school football coach” Spida says. “I try to be ever present, defensively tough, hustling all over the court. The Daily News once called me ‘Spidaman for his leaping ability and relentless pursuit.’”

Harrison has a fine all-around game “but I could get better in every aspect of basketball as well,” he says. “Though I feel I do have the most important characteristics of a top street ball player: the pursuit, the relentless spirit, the strong willpower that says you never die. If I succeed on Sunday, those will be the things inside of me that get me there.”