Harris Named Coach Of The Year

Jimmy Harris

Jimmy Harris

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

— Jimmy Harris, Shiloh Christian baseball coach, was in the car driving back from the College World Series when he received a phone call from a coaching protege last June.

Ozark baseball coach Matt Coleman, who serves on the American Baseball Coaches Association board, called Harris to inform him he’d been selected as an ABCA Coaches of the Year for 2012.

Harris, who has guided the Saints to three consecutive Class 4A state championships, thought he’d eared the regional coach of the year award, an award he also won two years ago.

When Coleman informed him the award was a national coach of the year award, Harris said he was speechless.

“It’s a big honor, but it would not be possible without having great players,” Harris said. “I’ve been blessed to have some really great players the last four years. This honor is as much about them as it is about me.”

Harris was selected the Division III Coach of the Year, which is for smaller high schools. The ABCA is comprised of about 8,000 members from across the country from Division I colleges to preps.

Among the other honorees at a banquet held in Chicago last weekend were Bryant coach Kirk Bock, who was named a Division II regional coach of the year.

“To be recognized by your peers as a coach of the year is an honor,” Harris said. “But to me, it says more about our program and what we’ve been able to accomplish.”

The Saints, who were 26-7 a year ago in winning their third straight state championship and fourth state title game appearance under Harris, will compete in the 5A-West Conference this spring.