When Johnnie Harris arrived at Auburn three years ago, she inherited a program that had been struggling to find consistent success on the hardwood since Joe Ciampi retired in 2004.
Under Harris’ tutelage, the Tiger’s have shown steady improvement, increasing their win total each year. Now, heading into her fourth year on the Plains, Harris is coming off a 20-win season and an NCAA Tournament appearance - the team's first since 2019.
Harris had a tall task this off-season in replacing First-Team All-SEC guard Honesty Scott-Grayson, who led the team in scoring, and she brought in plenty of newcomers to help fill the void left behind by Scott-Grayson.
Among those players are in-conference transfers DeYona Gaston and Taliah Scott, along with freshmen guards Jordan Hunter and Syriah Daniels.
Gaston joins the Tigers after playing at Texas where she was a member of the All-Big 12 First Team. Scott is coming after a season at Arkansas where she scored double figures in every SEC game she played
“DeYona Gaston is a pro,” Harris said. “She approaches practice, conditioning and weights like a pro. She has been a really pleasant surprise. Taliah has too. I want to say, the freshmen their work ethic is relentless. Like, they get in, they’re always doing extra, always doing more… So, I just think these newcomers have come in here and they’ve come in here to play.”
Despite the loss of Scott-Grayson and key leadership piece JaMya Mingo-Young, Harris returns plenty of production from last year’s squad in Taylen Green, Mar’shaun Bostic and Kaitlyn Duhon.
“I would say that Taylen has always been that leader," Harris said. “She leads by example, if she has to speak up, she will. But she’s always doing the right thing. She’s always in the gym so she always does the right thing so you see what it looks like."
“I would say Duhon has been pretty vocal for us in the last couple of weeks. Mar’shaun has been better… we’ve been working with Mar’shaun on being that leader. You know, Mingo was that leader and that’s the piece that’s probably the biggest void that I’m missing.”
Riding a wave of recent success on the court, head coach Harris is seeing a boost not only in recruiting but also in the energy surrounding the program as she enters her fourth season on the Plains. Harris praised the growing fan support since her arrival, noting its impact on the team's momentum.
“You know, everywhere I go people are talking about Auburn women’s basketball,” Harris said. “I think part of that is because we do try to get our girls out and be at different events and get out in the community, just to appreciate those fans and let them know we appreciate you coming."
“But you know, it has changed. You know, you win, they’ll come… We put a good product out on the floor and we have really good young ladies that love Auburn. They’re good representatives of Auburn. So, I think that has translated with the fans as well.”
The Tiger’s will get their 2024-25 season underway with Southern Illinois coming to Neville Arena on Nov. 4. Tip-off time has not been announced.
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Logan Fowler is a Senior from Sumiton, Alabama and is majoring in journalism. He joined the Plainsman in Spring 2024.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @loganffowler
