Johnnie Harris has been named Auburn’s new women’s head basketball coach, athletic director Allen Greene announced on Saturday. Harris makes her way to the Plains from Austin, Texas, having spent the last year as UT’s associate head coach, helping them reach the Elite Eight in this year’s NCAA Tournament.
Harris was named the National Assistant Coach of the Year by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association in 2018 and is considered one of the nation’s top recruiters.
This will be Harris’ first head coaching job. Before coaching at Texas, Harris spent 16 years at Arkansas, Texas A&M and Mississippi State and began her career as an assistant coach at Arkansas-Little Rock in 1998.
Harris’ time in the SEC earned her a reputation as a tireless recruiter, helping bring in some of the top signing classes in Mississippi State history, including the 2013 class that achieved 111 wins and the 2014 class that tallied a school-record 126 victories. In the fall of 2018, the Bulldogs signed the top-ranked class in program history with a No. 6 national ranking by espnW Hoop Gurlz. In her last year at Texas A&M, Harris helped sign the nation’s No. 2 recruiting class.
"We are thrilled to welcome Johnnie Harris as the next head coach of the Auburn women's basketball program," Greene said. "Her experience helping build national championship caliber teams is incredible and her ability to recruit elite players is evident by the success of the programs she has worked with. Every coach and program strive to win championships and Johnnie has worked with that blueprint, particularly in the SEC. What impressed me most throughout this process was her strong relationships with the student-athletes she recruited and coached – she's a developer of talent on the court and in life. Everyone speaks to her incredible work ethic, drive and character, which is required to be successful at the highest level. We are delighted to welcome Johnnie to the Auburn family."
Harris’ hiring comes a little under a month after Greene announced that former head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy will no longer serve as the Tigers’ head coach. Harris thanked those who have helped her reach her new position.
"First, I want to thank God for blessing me with this amazing opportunity. I am excited and honored to join the Auburn Family and be part of a program with such a storied tradition," Harris said. "I want to thank Dr. Jay Gogue, Allen Greene, Monique Holland and the search committee for the opportunity to lead the Auburn women's basketball program and be part of a community that embraces its university and its athletic program with such enthusiasm. It is humbling and exciting to join an athletic program that is as welcoming, passionate and committed to success as Auburn, and I can't wait to start building this program to be among the best in the Southeastern Conference.”
Harris is the mother of two children, Marcus and Kiera, and the legal guardian of Lily. She also has two grandchildren, Samarah and Kaiden.
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Evan Mealins, senior in philosophy and economics, is the editor-in-chief of The Auburn Plainsman.
