Erica Harris is in her fourth season at Miles, serving as an assistant women’s basketball coach as well as the head coach of the Cross County programs.
In three season with the Lady Bears basketball program. Harris’ work has been evident in the won-loss column. Miles has gone 46-30 in those three seasons, winning a Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Western Division title for the first time during the 2019-20 campaign. During that season, the Lady Bears finished a perfect 11-0 at home, also a program first. The team also led Division II in 3-point field goal defense during the abbreviated 2020-21 season.
Harris came to Miles from Lawson State Community College, where she served as an assistant with the women’s basketball program for 11 years. During her final season of coaching at Lawson State, Harris served as an assistant for the men’s and women’s basketball programs, a season where both teams finished among the best in the conference and both advanced to the semifinals of the Conference tournament. In 2015, Harris was integral in helping the women’s program to the school’s first-ever ACCC women’s basketball championship in 2015. Nine of the 11 sophomores from the championship team signed basketball scholarships with NCAA Division I and Division II schools.
Harris’ coaching responsibilities included on the floor coaching, recruiting, scouting, individual skill development, strength and conditioning, study hall, and academic monitoring. Harris was instrumental in the development of several NJCAA players of the week, All-Region and All Conference players. More than 90 percent of the student-athletes graduated and transferred to senior college and universities, with many of them signing athletic scholarships.
Prior to her coaching career, Harris enjoyed success as a student-athlete at the University of Montevallo (1998-2002). She was a Daktronics All-South Region selection and three-time All-Conference pick in the Gulf South Conference. She was ranked in the top-10 nationally in rebounding for three seasons and finished her senior year as the NCAA statistical champion in rebounds with 12.9 per game. Establishing herself as one of the best players in the league as a freshman, Harris helped the Falcons make the Gulf South Conference tournament for the first time in their NCAA DII history. During her UM career, Harris had five games with more than 20 rebounds in a game, more than 50 double-doubles, and scored in double figures in most of her games. Harris holds several records in the Montevallo record book, finishing her career ranked among the all-time top-10 scorers and second in rebounding with more than 1,400 points and nearly 1,100 rebounds in only 99 career games. In her senior season, Harris led the team in scoring, rebounding, steals, and field goal percentage.
She received the award for best female athlete at UM during her senior season and, in 2015, Harris was inducted into the school’s Sports Hall of Fame. Harris also excelled in the classroom and was inducted as a member of Phi Alpha Theta during her time at UM.
