Twitter:
@BookerTHarris
Booker T. Harris was named head coach of the men's basketball program on May 17, 2011 and became the program's second head coach in the NCAA Division II era. In only three seasons, Harris transformed a team that went 4-22 before his arrival, to 11-18 in the 2011–12 season and 16-10 in the 2012–13 season, earning the No. 4 seed in the Pacific West Championships. His team continued to progress during his early stages at Dominican, finishing the 2013-14 season at 22-8, earning second place in the conference en route to the PacWest championship game. For the Penguins' outstanding 2012–13 season, Harris was named the 2012-13 PacWest co-coach of the year. He was named Dominican's Coach of the Year in 2013-14. during his time at Dominican, Harris has seen 16 of his players earn All-PacWest honors.
A member of the University of San Francisco Dons’ NCAA Division I tournament team in 1998, Harris came to Dominican after spending the previous two seasons as the top assistant coach for NCAA Div. II perennial powerhouse Metro State in Denver.
Harris helped the Roadrunners to a 46-15 record and two NCAA Div. II appearances in his two seasons at Metro State. During the 2010-11 season, Metro State lost by just four points in the NCAA Central Region semifinals to top-seeded Minnesota State on Mavericks’ home floor in Mankato. Minnesota State (28-5) lost to eventual NCAA Div. II tournament champion Bellarmine in the NCAA Div. II Elite Eight.
Metro States — which won NCAA national titles in 2000 and 2002 — is the winningest men’s basketball program in NCAA Division II history. The Roadrunners have an all-time NCAA tournament record of 30-13 in 15 trips.
Harris has been involved with multiple championship teams at the NCAA Div. I and NCAA Div. II levels, from the West Coast Conference to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Before Metro State, he spent two seasons as Director of Basketball Operations at NCAA Division I University of San Diego. In 2008, the Toreros won the WCC tournament and upset UConn in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.
Harris was also a member of a championship team at Cal State San Bernardino where he was an assistant coach for four seasons when the Coyotes compiled an 86-28 record, setting a California Collegiate Athletic Association record with six consecutive conference titles. In 2006-07, San Bernardino won the NCAA West Region and advanced to the Final Four of the NCAA Div. II tournament. Harris helped coach and develop NBA power forward
Ivan Johnson.
“Booker has certainly paid his dues in the profession and is a very hard working and diligent coach. His experience here, at San Bernardino and at Metro State has prepared him for this opportunity. Dominican is getting a tremendous person that will connect well with people in the community,” University of San Diego head coach
Bill Grier said.
In 2002-03, Harris was the strength and conditioning coach at NCAA Div. I Long Beach State. He began his coaching career in 2001-02 as an assistant coach at Sonoma State University where he earned his master’s degree in Business Administration.
A two-time member of the WCC’s All-Academic team, Harris played for Coach
Phil Mathews at USF where he graduated in 1999. The 6-foot-1 guard played three seasons for the Dons and was a member of USF’s WCC tournament championship team in 1998. The Dons lost in the opening round of the NCAA tournament that year to Utah, which played all the way to the NCAA tournament championship game.
Harris, a native of San Francisco, went to USF from Bridgemont High School, a private Christian college preparatory school in Daly City. At Bridgemont, Harris averaged nearly 28 points a game in his senior year playing for
Booker Harris Sr., his father and longtime high school basketball coach. The USF-bound guard left Bridgemont as the school’s all-time leading scorer until his younger brother,
Eddy Harris, surpassed him three years later. Eddy is currently an assistant coach at Skyline Junior College in San Bruno.
In the summer, Harris has organized and coached at many youth basketball camps, including a Golden State Warriors camp at Redwood High School in Larkspur in 1999. He also competed in the San Francisco Pro/Am League and in the Drake High School Summer Basketball League in San Anselmo.
Harris enjoys movies, reading, and travel. His family includes a cousin,
Ernest Fields, who was a member of the Austin Peay University men’s basketball team that played in the NIT in 2007 and NCAA tournament in 2008.
