Baylor head coach Nicki Collen announced the addition of Johnnie Harris as associate head coach to the women’s basketball staff on Wednesday morning.
“Johnnie is, first and foremost, a winner,” said Collen. “She is a national champion and has been on the sideline for multiple Final Fours. She knows what it takes to lead and support young women and challenge them to be their best. She is an elite recruiter and, even more importantly, an elite relationship builder. Johnnie has had success at every stop in her career, and her experience as the head coach at Auburn will be a major asset to our staff.”
Coming to Waco after a four-year stint as head coach of the Auburn Tigers, Harris holds 27 years of coaching experience.
“Having the opportunity to work with Coach Nicki Collen, her incredible staff and the talented student-athletes at Baylor is an honor for me,” said Harris. “It is a privilege to be a part of such a successful and well-respected program. I’m excited to contribute to the ongoing legacy of excellence that Baylor Women’s Basketball has built. “
In Harris’ four years at the helm in Auburn, the Tigers compiled 58 victories with a 20-win season in 2023-24 that held the first NCAA Tournament berth for the squad in five years.
Prior to her first head coaching gig, Harris spent nine seasons as associate head coach under Vic Shaefer at Mississippi State and the University of Texas, assisting the Longhorns to the Elite Eight in 2021 and Mississippi State to the NCAA title game in back-to-back 2017 and 2018 seasons.
In those nine seasons, Mississippi State notched a 221-62 record with three SEC titles and Texas was 29-7 with a Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship trophy.
Harris was named WBCA Assistant Coach of the Year in 2018 while in Starkville.
Part of the Texas A&M staff in College Station as an assistant coach, Harris and the Aggies won the 2011 national championship and advanced to four Sweet 16 appearances in five seasons. In the title-winning year, Texas A&M put up a program-best 33 wins with just five losses and set additional team season records in 3-point field goals made (186) and offensive rebounds (609), all of which still stand.
Prior to her time in Aggieland, Harris spent three seasons with the Arkansas Razorbacks after the 2003-04 campaign at NC State under Kay Yow.
Harris got her start as a graduate assistant at Arkansas-Little Rock for two seasons before being promoted to assistant coach for one season in Little Rock and two seasons at Arkansas-Fort Smith.
Harris began her collegiate playing career at Arkansas-Pine Bluff before transferring and graduating from Arkansas Baptist.
“We are incredibly blessed that Johnnie decided to join the Baylor Family and will immediately begin working to help keep Baylor women’s basketball among the nation’s elite,” Collen said.
