Tesia Harris, is in her 3rd season with the Eagles after being hired as assistant women’s’ basketball coach in June of 2017. She joins the staff after holding the position of senior manager of business operations with Unique Sports Management (Melville, NY).
As the senior manager of business operations, she was responsible for the day-to-day activities of professionals as well as managing branding, social media strategies, and coordinated the recruitment of prospected collegiate athletes.
From 2012-2013, Harris played professionally in one of the top divisions in Slovakia. She made the move from professional basketball to enter the coaching world in 2013 as she became an assistant coach for the NYIT women’s basketball program. She was responsible for assisting specifically with the guards and team’s offense.
Harris left NYIT to take a position with the National Basketball Association League Office, where she was part of the production management team. Her role at the NBA was to monitor content and organize playlists of exclusive footage used for multimedia outlets and shows airing on NBATV, TNT, and ESPN. She also assisted in production and event management during NBA All Star weekend, The NBA Lottery, NBA Cares and The NBA/WNBA Drafts.
Harris began her collegiate basketball career at the University of Delaware and as a sophomore she led the team with 13.6 points per game and made 51 three-pointers. Those numbers led her to Colonial Athletic Association Second Team honors, being voted the team’s most valuable player and earning the Blue Hen Basketball Club Outstanding Achievement Award. She transferred to St. John’s (NY) for her senior season and in her career she finished with 1,016 career points. In her one season at St. John’s the team advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, finishing the season ranked 14th by the Associated Press and 15th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. Harris graduated St. Johns University with a Bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in sociology.
Harris began her basketball career at Half Hollow Hills West High School where she averaged 19.9 points per game.
Harris is one of five siblings, who are also active in basketball: Torrel Jr.; Tobias, who was drafted 19th in the 2011 NBA Draft; Tyler, a professional player overseas with Paris Levalliois; Terry, a junior guard at Eastern Michigan; Tori, who will be attending James Madison University in the fall on a full athletic scholarship.
Winthrop Head Coach Lynette Woodard on hiring Tesia Harris…
“Coach Harris is passionate about the game of basketball and driven to help others succeed. Her collegiate and professional experiences will be a valuable asset in her role as coach and mentor to our players. In her role at Winthrop, she will support all aspects of our program. Recruiting, scouting and assist with player development. She will monitor our student athletes for academic success and over see our community service projects. Coach Harris is hardworking and dedicated and we are glad to have her as a part of the Winthrop staff.”
