Harmony Named Head Women’s Basketball Coach at College of Charleston

Robin Harmony has been named the eighth all-time women’s basketball head coach at the College of Charleston as announced by Athletics Director Matt Roberts on Friday.

She will be formerly introduced at a press conference to be held on Wednesday, April 24 at noon (ET) in the McAlister Hospitality Suite at TD Arena.

“We are excited to have Robin join our CofC Athletics Family,” Roberts said. “She is a defensive-minded coach that has built championship programs throughout her coaching career. We look forward to having her build our women’s basketball program into a championship contender in the Colonial Athletic Association.”

A proven winner both as a player and as a head coach, Harmony joins former coaching greats at The College including former Tennessee Director of Women’s Athletics Joan Cronan (1974-76), Nancy Wilson (two tenures from 1976-84 and 2003-12), Scooter Barnette (1984-94), Kathy McCaskill-Rhein (1994-98), Melissa Slone (1998-2003) and Natasha Adair (2012-14).

The 2018 Southland Conference Coach of the Year, Harmony joins the Cougars after six seasons establishing Lamar University as one of the most successful women’s basketball programs in the Southland. This past season, she led the Cardinals to a 24-7 overall record, a regular-season title and second-straight Women’s NIT appearance.

Over her six seasons at Lamar, Harmony posted a 115-66 (.635) overall winning record including an 83-25 (.769) mark in Southland Conference games. Her 83 conference wins is a school record, while the .769 winning percentage is a program record.

Harmony guided the Cardinals to three Southland Conference championships and four national postseason tournaments. During her tenure at Lamar, the Cardinals won 42-straight home games at the Montagne Center – the second-longest active home winning streak in the nation behind the University of Connecticut.

Under Harmony’s guidance, 14 players were named all-conference selections and the Cardinals were the best in the nation in several NCAA Division I statistical categories. She and her staff also recruited top student-athletes to Lamar with several recruiting classes being ranked as the best in the Southland Conference.

Prior to Lamar, Harmony spent six seasons as St. Thomas (Fla.) University’s first-ever women’s basketball head coach, posting an impressive 131-48 overall record. A two-time Sun Conference Coach of the Year, she led the Bobcats to three appearances in the NAIA National Championships.

The Bobcats never had a losing season under Harmony and went 27-4 with a perfect 14-0 Sun Conference record in her last season before losing in the first round of the NAIA National Championships.

Prior to her time as head coach at St. Thomas, Harmony spent 18 seasons on the coaching staff of her alma mater, the University of Miami (Fla.), the last 12 seasons as associate head coach. Harmony was interim coach for two games in her final season with the Hurricanes, posting victories in both contests.

During her time at Miami, Harmony helped the Hurricanes win three BIG EAST Conference regular-season championship and two BIG EAST Conference tournament championship titles. The Hurricanes reached the postseason seven times and advance to the NCAA Sweet 16 on one occasion.

A former standout player for the University of Miami, she became the first women’s basketball player to be inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 1997. Harmony totaled 1,308 career points, 750 rebounds, 445 assists and 314 steals in 125 games played for the Hurricanes from 1980-84 under Hall of Fame Head Coach Lin Dunn. She also set the school record for assists in a single game (14 vs. Florida International on Dec. 4, 1982) and remains among the career leaders in points and rebounds at Miami.

After receiving a bachelor’s degree in education and recreation from Miami in 1984, Harmony played one season of professional basketball overseas in England. She helped lead the Avon Cosmetics to a league championship, while earning Most Valuable Player honors.

Originally from Hershey, Penn., Harmony later earned a master’s degree in sports administration from St. Thomas University. She is a graduate of Hershey High School, where she was a three-year starter.

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