NKU’s Harris named to 2020 Under Armour 30-Under-30 Team of college basketball assistant coaches

The National Association of Basketball Coaches has named Northern Kentucky University men’s basketball assistant coach David Harris to its 2020 Under Armour 30-Under-30 Team.

Harris is one of 30 members, all under the age of 30, comprising the team of most outstanding men’s college basketball coaches.

“I am greatly appreciative for being named one of the 2020 NABC Under Armour 30-Under-30 college coaches,” said Harris. “It is a great honor to be among these other great young college coaches and is also great motivation to keep working hard to continue developing young men, not just on the court, but also off the court as they continue into life outside of basketball.

“Being an African American on this list makes me very proud and hopefully motivates other young African American coaches in the future. I want to thank all the other coaches that have taken a chance on me along the way – Darrin Horn, Shaka Smart, Ed DeChellis, Larry Shyatt and Billy Donovan. They are all outstanding people and coaches, and have never once looked at me as a black kid, but only as a young man that wants to coach and mentor other young men.”

Harris’ passion for mentoring young men is not lost on Horn, the current head coach of the Norse.

“David has all of the qualities of an outstanding coach,” Horn said. “First, and most important, he cares deeply about the young men he coaches and is passionate about helping them grow as players and men. He is a tireless worker, terrific on-floor teacher and has an outstanding basketball mind. We are blessed to have him at NKU.”

In Harris’ first season on the bench for the Norse, NKU continued its run of success, finishing the 2019-20 campaign with a 23-9 record and 13-5 mark in Horizon League action. NKU then won the 2020 Horizon League Tournament championship and qualified for its third NCAA Tournament in the last four years.

Prior to coming to Highland Heights, Harris spent one year as an assistant coach under DeChellis at the U.S. Naval Academy. He was also on Smart’s staff as video coordinator at Texas for three years and one year as a graduate assistant at Virginia Commonwealth before moving into the Rams’ video coordinator position as well. He played collegiately at Ashland University after transferring from Florida, where he served as a team manager under Donovan.

NABC 2020 Under Armour 30-Under-30 Team
Ben Asher, Rutgers University
Brandon Chambers, Texas Southern University
Nate Champion, Le Moyne College
Dorian Green, University of Northern Colorado
David Harris, Northern Kentucky University
Ryan Hyland, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Taylor Johnson, Grand Valley State University
Trevor Johnson, Buena Vista University
Blake Justice, Valdosta State University
Erich Kaempffe, Rensselaer Polytechnic University
Emerson Kampen, Butler University
Mikel Kosich, University of South Alabama
Dan Madhavapallil, Marquette University
David Metzendorf, U.S. Air Force Academy
Jamison Montgomery, Menlo College
Patrick Moynihan, Appalachian State University
Will Murphy, Wofford College
John Ritzdorf, Central Community College
Ty Sampson, University of Louisville
Dylan Seikel, St. John Fisher College
Shiva Senthil, SUNY at Canton
Evan Sizemore, Palm Beach Atlantic University
Jeff Slanovec, Fairleigh Dickson U.—Florham
Michael Sotsky, Harvard University
Tommy Strine, Lamar University
Ford Stuen, Saint Louis University
Bobby Suarez, Eastern Washington University
Stefan Thompson, Hobart College
Charlie Wallrapp, Clarke University
Tyler Wayman, Rogers State University

From NKU Athletics Communications