Building Champions

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  Johnnie Harris

Johnnie Harris

Player Profile

Position:
Assistant Coach
Alma Mater:
Arkansas Baptist '96

Johnnie Harris is in her third season as an assistant coach at Texas A&M.

Known as one of the top recruiters in the country, Harris spent the previous three seasons at the University of Arkansas where the Lady Razorbacks landed one of the largest and most decorated classes in program history in back-to-back seasons including JUCO All-American and All-SEC Second Team selection Laura Ervin and All-SEC Freshman Team member Donica Cosby. In 2007, Harris helped sign one of the top 40 classes in the nation which included two Gatorade state players of the year in Whitney Zachariason of Arkansas and Morgan Boyd of Kansas. The Razorbacks also landed one of the top five point guards in the country in Shanita Arnold who was also a top 100 overall player ranked as high as No. 24 in the nation.

"Johnnie continues to be essential to our recruiting efforts with her numerous high school and AAU coaching contacts across the country," Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair said. "She knows our system well and has been a great fit in our program. This season, Johnnie will serve as our special teams coach working on inbounds, sideline and free throw plays. She is one of the first people our players go to when they need someone to talk to and is always there to provide advice and support."

Prior to Arkansas, Harris served under Women's Basketball Hall of Famer Kay Yow at North Carolina State. There, Harris and the Wolfpack coaching staff signed junior college player of the year Tiffany Stansbury who currently plays in the WNBA with the Minnesota Lynx. Her first recruiting class at NC State was tabbed as one of the best in the nation, a trend that continued to follow at Arkansas. She joined Yow's coaching staff during the 2003-04 season as the Wolfpack returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in two years. Posting a 17-15 overall record, Harris helped NC State sign one of the nation's top 20 recruiting classes and secured a commitment from the No. 1 post player in the country in Gillian Goring who currently plays for the Washington Mystics. Stansbury and Goring were rated among the top five high school prospects by numerous scouting services.

During her time at UA-Fort Smith, Harris brought in key players to the perennial junior college powerhouse that led to the school's most recent NJCAA Final Four appearance in 2004. Harris spent two seasons as the assistant coach at UAFS working with legendary head coach Louis Whorton and signed the No. 1 junior college class in the country. The Lady Lions went 34-8 during her two years on the JUCO level including an impressive 26-2 record in 2002-03 and a share of the Bi-State Conference title. Among her pupils was former Texas A&M standout Erica Roy (2004-06) as well as current WNBA center Gillian Goring.

Originally from Pine Bluff, Ark., Harris began her coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock in 1998 earning a promotion to full-time assistant coach in 2000. Harris also coached AAU Basketball with the Arkansas Kamikaze.

A former student-athlete, Harris played at the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, before transferring to Arkansas Baptist for her final two seasons. She is a 1996 graduate of Arkansas Baptist and is the proud mother of two children, Marcus (23) and Kiera (18). She also has a granddaughter, Samarah (3).

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