Jon Harris

Jon Harris (born August 5, 1980) is an American college basketball coach who is the former men's head coach at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE), an NCAA Division I program competing in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). A high school star at Edwardsville High School, Harris played collegiately at Marquette University. He was named the SIUE Cougars' new coach in April 2015 after spending thirteen years as an assistant in five different Division I programs. On March 11, 2019, SIUE announced that Harris' contract had not been renewed.

Harris is currently (Fall 2019) a Recruiting Specialist for Next College Student Athlete, a company that facilitates the contacting of college coaches by high school and middle school students.

Biography Jon Harris was born in Edwardsville, Illinois in 1980, the son of Robert "Bob" and Mary Ann Harris. He followed in his father's footsteps by starring in basketball at Edwardsville High School (EHS), remaining in town with an aunt when his father's employment was transferred to Chicago. Harris was the 1998 St. Louis Post-Dispatch Player of the Year, a USA Today honorable mention All-American, and an Associated Press (AP) All-State selection. This was despite the team's failure to advance beyond the sectional semifinals in the IHSA state tournament— as a junior, the EHS Tigers lost to Alton in a six overtime game; as a senior, the Tigers fell to Collinsville on a 70-foot "buzzer-beater" with both games played at SIUE's Vadalabene Center. Teamed with Dwyane Wade, Harris' 2001–02 Golden Eagles team went 26–7, finishing in the NCAA Tournament and earning a #9 AP ranking. The Golden Eagles fell victim to one of the notorious 12 vs. 5 upsets to Tulsa (one of three that year).

Harris graduated from Marquette in 2002 with a bachelor's degree in psychology. He is married to the former Heidi Bowman, who was also a four-year basketball star at Marquette, earning Conference USA All-Conference honors in 2001. They have three children, Hailey, Leah, and Jaxon. In his five seasons at Green Bay, Harris was instrumental in developing eight All-Horizon League players, and while recruiting Indiana for Green Bay, he got to know then-Purdue assistant Cuonzo Martin. When Martin was named the head coach at Missouri State, he quickly hired Harris as one of his first assistants. The Bears improved from 11 wins in 2008–09 to 24–12 and the CIT championship in 2009–10, and to 26–9 with the school's first Missouri Valley Conference regular season title and the second round of the NIT the following season. When Martin moved on to Tennessee, Harris was his first assistant hired. After seasons of 19–15, 20–13, and 24–13, Martin took the coaching job at California, and Harris followed, but he stayed only one season in Berkeley before returning home for the SIUE job. However, Harris's full staff of assistant coaches Brian Barone, Charles "Bubba" Wells, and Mike Waldo and Director of Operations Casey Wyllie were all retained, and Barone was later named as interim head coach.

Head coaching record