Kellie Harper

Kellie Jolly Harper (born May 3, 1977)[1] is an American basketball coach who is currently the head women's basketball coach of the Tennessee Lady Vols. Prior to coaching at Tennessee, she served as head coach of Missouri State, NC State, and Western Carolina.

Kellie Harper
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamTennessee
ConferenceSEC
Record88–39 (.693)
Biographical details
Born (1977-05-03) May 3, 1977
Sparta, Tennessee
Playing career
1995–1999Tennessee
1999Cleveland Rockers
Position(s)Point guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2000–2001Auburn (assistant)
2001–2004Chattanooga (assistant)
2004–2009Western Carolina
2009–2013NC State
2013–2019Missouri State
2019–presentTennessee
Head coaching record
Overall373–247 (.602)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
As coach:
As player:
Awards

Playing career

Born Kellie Jean Jolly in Sparta, Tennessee, she is a graduate of White County High School in Sparta, where she earned many honors as a high school basketball player and ranked third academically in her graduating class.[2]

In college, she was one of the starting point guards for the Tennessee Lady Volunteers during their three consecutive NCAA women's national championships from 1996 to 1998. In 1997, Harper was named to the Final Four All Tournament team.[3]

Coaching career

On January 28, 2008, Kellie earned her 66th win, passing Beth Dunkenberger as the second winningest women's basketball coach in Western Carolina history with a 60–49 victory over College of Charleston at the Ramsey Center.

NC State athletic director Debbie Yow fired Harper on March 26, 2013, after Harper compiled an overall four-year record for the Wolfpack of 70–64 but only 23–39 within the Atlantic Coast Conference.

On April 10, 2013, Harper was named head coach of the Missouri State Lady Bears, a member of the Missouri Valley Conference. Beginning with the 2014–15 season, she led the Lady Bears to five consecutive top-three finishes in the MVC and five consecutive postseason trips, including berths in the NCAA Tournament in 2016 and 2019.

The 2018–19 season proved to be a career year for Harper. The Lady Bears finished the regular season 20–9 (16–2 MVC), after starting the season 1–7. Harper was voted the Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year for her efforts. She became the first Missouri State coach to win the award since Cheryl Burnett in 1994.[4] After defeating top-seeded and nationally ranked #24 Drake Bulldogs in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament Finals, Harper's team received an 11–seed in the Chicago Region. Harper guided the Lady Bears to the Sweet Sixteen with upset wins over 6–seed DePaul and 3–seed Iowa State Cyclones, in games in Ames, Iowa. The Lady Bears fell to 2–seed Stanford in the Sweet Sixteen. Harper was named the Kay Yow Coach of the Year award winner for 2019.[5]

Personal life

In 1999 she married Jon Harper, a member of her coaching staff at Western Carolina, North Carolina State, Missouri State, and Tennessee. She has two children, Jackson and Kiley.

Head coaching record
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Western Carolina Catamounts (Southern Conference) (2004–2009)
2004–05 Western Carolina 18–1410–10T–5thNCAA First Round
2005–06 Western Carolina 9–208–105th
2006–07 Western Carolina 24–1015–31stWNIT Second Round
2007–08 Western Carolina 25–915–32ndWNIT First Round
2008–09 Western Carolina 21–1214–6T–3rdNCAA First Round
Western Carolina: 97–65 (.599)62–32 (.660)
NC State Wolfpack (Atlantic Coast Conference) (2009–2012)
2009–10 NC State 20–147–7T–5thNCAA First Round
2010–11 NC State 14–174–1010th
2011–12 NC State 19–165–119thWNIT Second Round
2012–13 NC State 17–177–117thWNIT Second Round
NC State: 70–64 (.522)23–39 (.442)
Missouri State Lady Bears (Missouri Valley Conference) (2013–2019)
2013–14 Missouri State 14–178–10T–6th
2014–15 Missouri State 18–1513–53rdWNIT First Round
2015–16 Missouri State 24–1014–4T–2ndNCAA First Round
2016–17 Missouri State 16–1512–63rdWNIT First Round
2017–18 Missouri State 21–1215–32ndWNIT Second Round
2018–19 Missouri State 25–1016–22ndNCAA Sweet Sixteen
Missouri State: 118–79 (.599)78–30 (.722)
Tennessee Lady Volunteers (Southeastern Conference) (2019–present)
2019–20 Tennessee 21–1010–6T–3rdPostseason not held due to COVID-19
2020–21 Tennessee 17–89–43rdNCAA Second Round
2021–22 Tennessee 25–911–53rdNCAA Sweet Sixteen
2022–23 Tennessee 25–1213–33rdNCAA Sweet Sixteen
Tennessee: 88–39 (.693)44–18 (.710)
Total:373–247 (.602)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References
  1. "Women's Basketball Coaches Career". NCAA. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  2. Kellie Harper Bio on Catamountsports.com, accessed January 12, 2011
  3. Nixon, Rick. "Official 2012 NCAA Women's Final Four Records Book" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved April 22, 2012.
  4. "Harper Named MVC Coach of the Year". Missouri State. March 14, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  5. "The Kay Yow National Coach of the Year Award | College Basketball Awards | CollegeInsider.com". www.collegeinsider.com. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
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