| Sarah Harris was the 2009 D3hoops.com Great Lakes Region coach of the year. |
Covenant athletic director Kyle Taylor is proud to announce the hiring of Sarah Harris as head women's basketball coach.
Harris comes to Covenant from Wheaton (Ill.) where she has been an assistant for the last three seasons under coach Kent Madsen. Harris also previously spent four seasons as the head coach at Grove City, an NCAA Division III member in Pennsylvania. At Grove City, Harris' teams were 39-65 from 2006-2010. She also served as a graduate assistant coach at UNC Greensboro from 2004-06.
Harris replaces Tami Smialek, who 292-320 over 20 seasons in three stints as head coach. Smialek was also the athletic director before Taylor, the men's basketball coach, took over the position.
"Covenant College quickly won me over with its commitment to pursuing athletic excellence within the framework of a genuine Christian academic environment," said Harris. "I am thrilled to have the opportunity to be a part of the Covenant community and work towards helping the women's basketball program grow in what it is capable of achieving on the court and in the lives of the student-athletes in this program."
In 2009 at Grove City, Harris was named Presidents' Athletic Conference Coach of the Year as well as Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year by D3hoops.com. In her four years at Grove City, she coached six All-PAC players and one NCAA All-Region player.
"We are thrilled to add Sarah Harris to the athletics team at Covenant College," said Taylor. "Her extensive background both as a player and coach at the NCAA Division III level was a key factor in our decision. She had a solid career at Wheaton, served as a head coach at Grove City, and has been back at Wheaton as an assistant. All in all she has 12 years of experience at Christian liberal arts Division III institutions, and that is exactly what we need."
Harris graduated cum laude from Wheaton with a degree in Spanish in 2003. In 2004, she completed a master's degree in intercultural studies/TESOL at Wheaton and she earned a second master's degree from UNC-Greensboro in 2006, completing her master of science degree in exercise and sport science.
As a player at Wheaton, Harris started in each of her final three seasons. She helped the Thunder capture the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin title during her sophomore and senior seasons. Harris helped lead the Thunder to an 80-24 overall record, including a 44-12 mark in CCIW play. She earned All-CCIW Third Team honors following both her sophomore and junior seasons, finishing her career with over 900 points at Wheaton. Harris also earned Academic All-District honors in both her junior and senior seasons.