(Miles City, MT)  Miles Community College Director of Athletics, Jerry Olson, has announced the hiring of Taylor Harris as the new head women's basketball coach.  "We are really excited to have Taylor Harris join the MCC family," commented Olson.  "He brings a ton of enthusiasm and passion for the game.  He has been in a National Tournament Final and a Final Four.  We had outstanding candidates in this pool and we are excited to have Taylor keep this program's tradition moving forward." 

 

Taylor Harris comes to MCC after recently serving as the assistant women's basketball coach at Regis University, an NCAA Division II institution in Denver, Colorado.  During his time at Regis, under head coach Molly Marrin, Coach Harris garnered a record of 74-44.  This included four straight post season appearances, a berth in the NCAA Tournament in 2017, and RMAC Tournament Championship game in 2017.  Regis' teams were known for their rebounding and defense, leading the RMAC in rebounding all four years and having a four year defensive points per game average under 60 points per game.  

 

Showing the importance of academics and graduation, Regis attained an overall 3.6 GPA, including a 100% graduation rate and 18 Academic All-Conference award winners over Coach Harris' four year span.

At Regis, the coaching staff understood the importance of recruiting locally, signing 9 All Colorado players in a four year span, while also signing players from eight different states and internationally from three different countries.

Prior to Regis, Coach Harris spent six seasons as an assistant with the men's basketball program at Metropolitan State University of Denver, also an NCAA Division II institution in Denver. During his time at MSU Denver, Harris served under 2013 NABC National Coach of the Year Derrick Clark and compiled a record of 161-33.  During this time, Harris had the opportunity to coach two National Players of the Year, five All Americans, three RMAC Players of the Year, and 13 All RMAC performers. 

Coach Harris helped guide MSU Denver to the 2013 NCAA Division II National Championship game, the 2014 Final Four, and the 2012 Elite Eight. Harris also saw four regular season RMAC titles and three RMAC Tournament championships while at Metro State.  Currently, Coach Harris has seven former players playing professionally from those MSU Denver teams, including NBL performers Mitch McCarron and Nick Kay in Australia, Raul Delgado in Mexico, and Brandon Jefferson in France.

Prior to MSU Denver, Coach Harris got his start in coaching as as a varsity boys' basketball assistant at Chaparral High School in Parker, Colorado.  There, Coach Harris coached future Wyoming Cowboy and NBA G-League performer Josh Adams. Harris has also coached in the club setting, running the girls division of B&B Basketball Academy in Denver from 2010-2015.

Coach Harris is a native of Denver, Colorado, graduating from Cherry Creek High School.  Coach Harris earned his undergraduate degree in Human Performance and Sport from MSU Denver in 2011 and a Master's in Athletic Administration from Concordia University-Irvine in 2012.

 

"I would like to first off thank Dr. Klippenstein, Jerry Olson, Chase Tait, and the rest of the search committee for this tremendous opportunity," commented Coach Harris.  "I also want to thank Coach Molly Marrin for being a once in a lifetime mentor for me during my four years at Regis, and all the players I had the opportunity to serve.