Some college graduates like to take time after graduation before plunging into the “real world.”
Brad Harris won’t get that opportunity.
A May graduate of Lee University, Harris is the new head boys’ basketball coach at Notre Dame High School. He replaces Tommy Fox, who resigned to take a position at First Baptist Academy in Powell, Tenn.
Harris, 24, was an NAIA Division I All-American guard at Lee in 2007-08, helping the Flames to the Elite Eight, where they fell to eventual national champion Oklahoma City University. He averaged 15.2 points and connected on 100 3-point shots as a senior after transferring from Tennessee Temple University.
He inherits a team that finished 18-8 in 2008-09 but will miss leading scorer D.J. Bowles, who transferred to Cleveland. The Irish do return standout sophomores Rashawn Avery and Steadman Ford.
“I’m excited about the opportunity,” Harris said. “I think we’ve got a lot of good young talent, and this is a good opportunity for us to see what we can do.”
Harris feels his age will give him a better chance to relate to his future players.
“I’m blessed to get this opportunity at a young age,” he said. “The Notre Dame administration has faith in me, and it means a lot. It’s going to be important for me to get all of the players on the same page, especially with the transition with Coach Fox leaving.”
Harris prefers an up-tempo, attacking style of offense, giving his players the opportunity to “get out and run.”
Irish athletic director Howie Sompayrac said Harris came highly recommended by a couple of college coaches.
“In just a couple of years out of the college game, Brad’s been able to develop a sort of basketball school,” Sompayrac said, noting that Harris runs clinics for guards in the offseason. “It’s obvious when you talk to him that he has a gift for the game, and with his age he can bond with the players and at the same time demand respect.
“When you talk to him about basketball, there’s not an ounce of doubt in him about his ability to coach the kids.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6311.