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SIU Edwardsville Basketball: Jon Harris released after 4 years as head coach

By Joey Loose

MURRAY, KY - FEBRUARY 09: Tyresse Williford #5 of the SIU-Edwardsville Cougars reacts after making a shot in the first half of the game against the Murray State Racers at CFSB Center on February 9, 2019 in Murray, Kentucky. Murray State won 86-55. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
MURRAY, KY - FEBRUARY 09: Tyresse Williford #5 of the SIU-Edwardsville Cougars reacts after making a shot in the first half of the game against the Murray State Racers at CFSB Center on February 9, 2019 in Murray, Kentucky. Murray State won 86-55. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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Let’s look at Jon Harris’s coaching career and examine what SIU-Edwardsville does next to replace him.

Jon Harris has been fired as head coach of SIU Edwardsville after four seasons leading the Cougars. His time in Edwardsville was largely unsuccessful and his teams really struggled in the OVC. His poor records and lack of success landed him at just 341st on our early season head coach rankings.

Harris played at Marquette under Tom Crean and served as a graduate assistant on the 2003 Final Four squad led by Dwyane Wade. He spent five years as an assistant at Green Bay to former Marquette assistant Tod Kowalczyk. He spent seven years following Cuonzo Martin from Missouri State to Tennessee to Cal when SIU Edwardsville gave him the top job back in 2015. The young head coach was given his first head coaching position with the Cougars and there were clearly some struggles along the way.

These Cougars were relatively new to D-1 when Harris took over, and he hasn’t brought them along any closer to success. He finishes his tenure just 31-88, finishing 15-53 in OVC play. This team was never in the same conversation with potent programs like Belmont and Murray State, though Harris did improve the team’s win count from 6 to 9 to 10. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough for Harris to keep his job.

Harris’s Cougars finished this last year at 10-21 and the team had their worst defensive season since joining D-1. They failed to get on a run this past season and dropped seven of their last nine games. The Cougars tied for seventh place this past year, and it was definitely a sign of progress, but it simply wasn’t enough for Harris.

The Cougars will graduate just one starter and will get junior forward Brandon Jackson (13.8 ppg, 6.4 rpg) back for one more year. As previously mentioned, this team really struggled on the defensive end, ranking in the bottom ten on defensive shooting. A bright spot for the team could be freshman guard Cameron Williams (10.0 ppg, 3.4 rpg), giving the next head coach someone who could develop into a talented scorer.

Competing in this OVC is a difficult task for any program not named Belmont or Murray State, and the next head coach will have his hands full. Becoming a consistent program is not impossible, but this Cougars team has yet to show that they can do that. The last three hires have all been assistant coaches and I expect the Cougars to go down that road again. There are some capable assistant coaches with in-state recruiting experience, and they’ll really need to double down their recruiting efforts in an area where they are certainly the least successful program.

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Though things didn’t progress fast enough in Edwardsville, Harris still has a lot of good years ahead of him. He could very easily work again under one of his former bosses like Crean or Martin, but I doubt he’ll be a head coach again right away. For the Cougars, the next head coach could very well push this program to the next level or flounder for half a decade like Harris. Competing in the OVC is difficult and the next coach needs to build this 10-win season into something greater next year.