Salem University head men’s basketball coach Brett Rector has announced that Maverick Harris will join the coaching staff as an assistant coach. Harris spent the 2021-22 season at NCAA Division II member Bemidji State University in Bemidji, Minnesota.
Prior to Bemidji State, Harris spent three seasons on the men’s basketball coaching staff at NCAA Division II member Minot State University in Minot, North Dakota.
“I am extremely excited to add Maverick Harris to our coaching staff. Maverick’s experience and talent make him a great fit for our program. He will bring tremendous energy every day and a strong desire to build meaningful relationships with our student-athletes. I have no doubt he will help grow our program and become a huge asset to our entire athletic department.” Stated Coach Rector.
Bemidji State opened their 2021-22 season winning three of their first four games, including a 110-61 win over Northland College. Closing out the season, the Beavers earned their final win, 92-89, over St. Cloud State University in nail biting, overtime fashion on Senior Day. Making moves on the BSU leaderboards, Derek Thompson recorded a career 15 double-doubles to become the BSU all-time rebounding leader and earned the third-place spot in all-time scoring with 1,558 points. Beaver Men’s Basketball was selected as the 2021-22 Bemidji State Scholar Team, earning a 3.52 combined GPA. The team also landed six student-athletes on the NSIC All-Academic Team, which included three NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence selections in Cody Landwehr, Wyatt Olson, and Derek Thompson. Landwehr and Thompson were also selected as NSIC Myles Brand Award Reciepents.
Harris spent the past three season at Minot State, starting in 2018-19 as a graduate assistant coach before becoming director of operations for the men’s and women’s programs from 2019-21. He led the men’s program’s perimeter/guard development which included 2019-20 NSIC All-Conference Honorable Mention selections in Kyle Beisch and Max Cody. Harris also aided in the post/forward development in 2018-19 which included NSIC All-Conference Second Team selection David Akibo. He also served as the team’s academic coach/liaison during his three seasons that resulted in six NABC Honors Court members, three D2ADA Academic Achievement Award recipients and one NSIC Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction Award winner.
Prior to joining Minot State, Harris was an assistant coach at Franklin Coach in Franklin, Ind., during the 2017-18 season. He helped lead two student-athletes to All-Conference team honors, including second team and honorable mention selections.
Harris was a four-year student-athlete at Northland College where he played in 101 career games and was a team captain during his senior season. He helped lead the Lumberjacks to their first winning season in 20 years and first tournament berth in over 11 seasons.
Harris has traveled internationally to Costa Rica and Spain to play against top competition in those countries. During his tours, he helped coach various local and Special Olympics camps. Harris also spent time assisting Joey Burton, who is a skill development coach, working with top high school, college and professional players.
Harris graduated from Northland College in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in business management before earning his master’s of science in sports management from Minot State in 2019.
