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MILLIGAN COLLEGE, TN (Sept. 15, 2003) — NBA coach Del Harris will be in the Tri-Cities area on Thursday, Sept. 25, to present a coaches’ clinic at Milligan College. The clinic is open to regional coaches, alumni and basketball enthusiasts.
Harris, who is a 1959 graduate of Milligan College, has been the defensive coordinator for the Dallas Mavericks since 2000.
Harris is one of the most experienced coaches in the NBA, becoming the 20th coach to record over 500 wins. Prior to his work with the Mavericks, Harris led the Houston Rockets to the NBA finals in 1981, took the Milwaukee Bucks to four straight playoff appearances and led the LA Lakers through four very successful years.
During the 1994-95 season, Harris’s first season with the Lakers, Los Angeles recorded its fourth-largest single-season improvement in its history. That year, Harris became the third Lakers coach to receive the NBA Coach of the Year award.
As a member of the Milligan College men’s basketball team in the late 1950s, Harris was named to the All-Conference team, Volunteer State Athletic Conference and Smoky Mountain Athletic Conference for three years, 1956-59. In his senior year at Milligan, he received an honorable mention with the Associated Press All-American basketball team.
Harris began his head coaching career in 1965 at Indiana’s Earlham College, where at age 27, he was one of the youngest college coaches in the country.
“My years at Milligan College left an imprint on me that has carried me through the roller coaster life that has accompanied over 40 years of coaching basketball at every level,” said Harris. “Christian principles were so prevalent at Milligan. Though I strayed away from those values for many years, the experience at Milligan helped me to come back to those basic Christian principles later in life.”
Harris’s clinic will benefit Milligan’s basketball program. A member of the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), Milligan’s has one of the top men’s basketball programs in the NAIA, ranking as high as sixth in the nation in recent years. The Buffs have won eight conference championships in the past 13 years and averaged more than 22 wins a season.
The women’s basketball team is also an AAC and NAIA top contender. In recent years, the Lady Buffs have won four back-to-back conference championships, been ranked as high as 13th in the nation in the NAIA, and made four trips to the national tournament.
Harris will present a “Chalk Talk” coaches clinic on Thursday, Sept. 25, from 4-6 p.m. in Wilson Auditorium at Milligan College. Cost is $25 per person or $20 if pre-registered by Sept. 22. More information and registration forms are available from Coach Rich Aubrey at 423.975.8029 or Coach Tony Wallingford at 423.461.8783 or online at www.milligan.edu.