Auburn University has dismissed women’s basketball head coach Johnnie Harris following a 12-18 season that concluded with a 60-50 loss to Florida in the first round of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Tournament. Harris, who amassed a 58-63 record over four seasons, led the Tigers to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2023-24 but struggled this past season, finishing with a 3-13 conference record and enduring a seven-game losing streak to end the year.
Athletic Director John Cohen expressed respect for Harris, acknowledging their long-standing professional relationship and her contributions to the program. However, he emphasized the necessity for a new direction to elevate the team’s competitiveness within the SEC.
Before joining Auburn, Harris served as associate head coach under Vic Schaefer at Mississippi State from 2012 to 2020, during which the team reached consecutive national championship games in 2017 and 2018. She followed Schaefer to Texas for the 2020-21 season before accepting the head coaching position at Auburn in April 2021.
Under Harris’s leadership, Auburn saw incremental improvements, including a 20-12 record in the 2023-24 season and their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2019. Despite these advancements, the team’s regression in the 2024-25 season prompted the decision to seek new leadership.
Auburn will commence a national search for a new head coach, aiming to build upon the program’s history and achieve sustained success in women’s basketball.
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