After just four seasons of work, Johnny Harris will be playing for Auburn, marking the opening of the second head coach at the Southeastern Conference as March Madness approaches.
Sources told SB Nation that John Cohen was hired as athletic director several years ago and did not reward her with a contract extension to make the NCAA tournament last season. He used to be an ad for Starkville.
The court's results made it easier for Cohen to dump Harris. Despite his first four appearances at Auburn last season, Harris never had a victory record in SEC plays during his four seasons there. Overall, she was 58-63.
However, to hire a coach over Harris, Auburn probably needs to open his wallet a little wider. According to To USA TODAYHarris was the second-lowest paid coach in the SEC last year (data pool excluding Vanderbilt's Ciaralf, as private school salaries are not publicly available).
Auburn had several major success moments in women's basketball, but in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he appeared in three consecutive national title games, losing each. The Auburn team coached by Joe Ciampi went to six Elite 8s and won four SEC tournament titles. Nellfortner was also successful in the 2000s, winning the regular season SEC title, with Dewanna Bonner leading the way. Terri Williams-Flournoy went to three NCAA tournaments in nine seasons in the 2010s.
But now we need to rebuild Auburn.
There are a few people Cohen might call for work.
Sam Purcell
Cohen had to hire a female basketball coach for the last time – in Mississippi State in 2022 – he called Purcell. He was previously one of the top EUs of Jeff Waltz in Louisville, but helped the Cardinals on two trips to Final Four. Purcell is on track for Mississippi State and is currently enjoying his third season with at least 20 wins, focusing on his second NCAA Tournament Bertz. SEC coaches have previously seen them jump from schools within the league to another in many sports, including women's college basketball. Most recently, Joni Taylor went from Georgia. Texas A&M 2022. It is worth noting that Purcell graduated from Auburn and began coaching as a video coordinator, except that he had previously had a professional relationship with Cohen. Parcel's acquisition in Mississippi is just under $1 million.
Carly Thibaut Dadonis
It's almost guaranteed that Cohen will call Thibault-Dudonis at some point this month, and he's not the only Power 4 athletic director to do so. One of the fastest rising stars in the sports coaching circle, the 33-year-old quickly established Fairfield as a midway power, becoming 70-20 in three seasons. In addition to creating last year's NCAA tournament, she led the stag to victory in Arkansas' major programs. Wake Forest, Villanova, Rutgers And St. John's. Three Daughters WNBA Mike Thibaud's coach, she is also an assistant under Schafer in Mississippi, where Cohen put the ads there. The Bulldogs appeared in national title games in both seasons of Schafer's staff.
This is a significant step up for Ruzel, who was named Coach of the Year in the Atlantic 10 in the current back-to-back seasons, and has Richmond in a position to land a massive sleeper that is unusual for the NCAA tournament if the spider is loose in the conference tournament. Russel has been the winner everywhere he has ever been, from Chicago's Division III rank to Bucknell and now Richmond. Eighteen of his teams (who will soon turn 12) have played in postseason tournaments since he first became head coach 20 seasons ago. Auburn could do much worse than hiring Rusel.
