Brent Harris is back for his 14th season as head coach of the women’s basketball team at Southwest.
During his tenure with the Lady Bears, Harris has had 27 players sign to continue their careers at a four-year institution. In addition, he has directed the Lady Bears to seven conference playoff berths, seven trips to the NJCAA Region 23 tournament and one trip to the NJCAA National Championship Tournament. The Lady Bears played in the state finals in 2016-17 and the state and region finals during the 2013-14 season.
All seven sophomore members of the 2015-16 team (including student assistants) graduated and all five of the sophomore players signed a scholarship to continue their collegiate career with a four-year school. During the year, the Lady Bears were 5th in the NJCAA in points allowed per game and Alissa Adam ranked 5th in assists per game.
Under Harris’ direction, the 2013-14 Lady Bears team turned in one of the best seasons in team history as it finished with a 21-9 record and was runners-up in the Region 23 and MACJC tournaments and finished 1st in the nation in fewest points allowed per game. They were also the first-ever Southwest team to make an appearance in the NJCAA National Championship tournament. Guard Katrina Littlepage, who scored 40 points in the 2013-14 MACJC tournament quarterfinals against East Mississippi, was named an NJCAA Honorable Mention All-American and signed to play at the University of West Georgia. Mikayla Etienne was named an All-American Honorable Mention for teh 2020-21 season.
The Lady Bears have excelled in the classroom under Harris’ tenure, earning numerous NJCAA and MACJC team and individual academic honors. Five members of the 2019-20 squad received academic honors from the NJCAA and MACJC. The Lady Bears have been named an NJCAA All-Academic Team in five of the past seven years and were the MACJC Academic Team of the Year for 2012-13.
A native of Jackson, TN, Harris is a 1995 graduate of Lambuth University where he received Bachelor’s degrees in Business Administration and Science. While at Lambuth, he was a member of the Eagles’ basketball and baseball teams.
He began his coaching career at University School (Jackson, TN) where he spent 1995-96 as assistant coach for the boys’ basketball team. He followed that with three years (1996-1999) as an assistant for the men’s and women’s teams at Lambuth where he helped the school reach the NAIA tournament and helped coach five NAIA All-Americans.
Following his time at Lambuth, Harris moved to Riverside High School (Parsons, TN) and spent three years (1999-2002) as head coach of the boys’ team. In 2001-02, he also served as head coach of the girls’ squad and was named District 11-AA Coach of the Year after leading the team to the district and tournament championships as well as a sub-state appearance.
Harris then moved to Southeastern in 2002 where he remained until beginning his tenure with the Lady Bears. While with the Lady Lions, he helped them to an East Division title in the Southland Conference.
He and wife Krista are the parents of a son, Max, and a daughter, Kate.
