Former Alabama standout and NCAA Division II head coach at Florida Southern Betsy Harris was named an assistant coach for the Longwood women’s basketball team, head coach Erika Lang-Montgomery announced in May. Harris begins her first season with the Lancers in 2026-27.
Harris most recently was the head coach at East Central Community College, an NJCAA institution in her hometown of Decatur, Miss., from 2022-24. She led the Warriors to 26 wins in two seasons and to the quarterfinals of the Region 23 tournament in 2023-24. Prior to that, Harris enjoyed an eight-year stint with the Florida Southern.
“I’m excited to join Erika’s staff here at Longwood,” Harris said. “She is one of the most respected people and coaches in the business. I feel fortunate to be a part of what she has built. We’ve known each other from our playing days and from coaching against one another. I have admired what she has done in her career. I look forward to helping continue to build the Lancers into a championship-caliber program.”
During her tenure, she led the Moccasins to a 169-63 record, including six consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, including an Elite Eight run in 2015. Along with tournament appearances, the Mocs won back-to-back Sunshine State Conference regular-season and tournament titles, climbed to as high as No. 6 in the WBCA coaches poll, and earned the No. 1 seed in the NCAA south regional tournament during the 2018-19 season.
“I have seen her passion and competitive spirit firsthand, having competed against her for years both as a player and as a coach,” Lang-Montgomery said of Harris.”She is a champion and a proven winner, and I am excited to work alongside her as we continue to build our program and compete for a Big South Conference championship.”
Harris' teams have historically lit up the scoreboard with Florida Southern ranking in the top 50 nationally in scoring on multiple occasions, including ranking 18th in 2018-19 with over 77 points per game. Harris was named WBCA South Region Coach of the Year in 2018-19, and Sunshine State Conference Coach of the Year honors on three occasions (2015-16, 2017-18, 2018-19).
Prior to Florida Southern, Harris spent three seasons as the head coach at the College of Coastal Georgia, an NAIA school in Brunswick, Ga. She led the Mariners to a 68-27 record and was the first coach in the school history to qualify a team for the NAIA national tournament after a 24-9 season in 2012-13.
Harris got into coaching as an assistant coach at West Alabama where she served for two seasons (1999-01). She also made stops at Troy (2001-02) and East Central (2002-03) before returning to West Alabama for seven seasons from 2003-10. She also spent one season at Meridian Community College (2010-11) prior to taking the position at Coastal Georgia.
Harris was an all-state player at Decatur High School and led the Warriors to their first-ever Mississippi Class 2-A state championship in 1990 before moving on to the Crimson Tide. She helped lead Alabama to three straight NCAA tournament appearances, including a Final Four showing in 1994. She was selected second team All-SEC, earned MVP honors at the NCAA midwest regional, and was named to the Final Four all-tournament team.
While at Alabama, Harris set the school record for 3-pointers with 272, tied for most threes in a single game game with eight, has the top two single-season records for 3-pointers made, and ranks seventh in career scoring with 1,519 points. During Alabama career she was nominated for the Wade Trophy, given to the Division I player of the year and she participated in trials for the U.S. National Team.
Upon her graduation from Alabama, she continued her playing career for four seasons with teams in Greece, Iceland, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Harris graduated from Alabama with a bachelor's degree in sports management in 1995 and her master's degree in teaching from West Alabama in 2001.
