Harris Resigns as Women’s Basketball Head Coach

Led MCC to NJCAA Division III Region XXI tournament four times

MANCHESTER, Conn. – Peter Harris, a veteran and respected coach with more than 200 wins on the men’s and women’s basketball community college level, has resigned as the Manchester Community College women’s basketball coach, Director of Athletics Cynthia Washburne announced today.

“With a heavy heart, I have decided to resign,” Harris said. “I have personal goals that I have set for myself and I would like to try to achieve them. I personally want to express my appreciation to the athletics department for a satisfying and rewarding six years. I must also thank the group who has made my life so fulfilling during this time: The student-athletes.”

“The entire MCC community owes coach Harris a debt of gratitude,” Washburne said. “He resurrected a dormant program six years ago as a result of two passionate young women and built it into a highly-competitive intercollegiate varsity program. Coach Harris’s effect on this program will be felt well beyond his tenure at its head coach. I have seen coach Harris touch the lives of the young women who have come through the program and know he has made a positive impact on them far beyond the basketball skills he taught them. We are heartened by the fact coach Harris is just down the hallway as our Director of Admissions and will continue to be a resource for our student-athletes and students at the school.”

Harris, 43-41 in four varsity seasons as the MCC women’s basketball coach, led the Cougars to four National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III Region XXI Women’s Basketball Tournament appearances. The 2001-02 team won the NJCAA Division III Region XXI championship and advanced to the NJCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Tournament quarterfinals.

The 48-year-old Harris, a Manchester resident, has a 219-172 career record in 16 seasons as a men’s and women’s basketball coach at the community college level. He was named the 2004-05 NJCAA Division III Region XXI women’s basketball co-Coach of the Year on Monday. He previously won the award in 2001 and 2002.

A 1979 graduate of Western New England College and the school’s fifth all-time leading scorer, Harris began his coaching career one year after graduation at Middlesex Community College. He went 110-49 in six seasons (1980-86), winning the 1985-86 NJCAA Division III Region XXI men’s basketball Coach of the Year award.