Betsy Harris has been at Florida Southern College for only four seasons, but the coach has wasted no time reviving a program that posted seven wins the season before her arrival.

Although the No. 2-seeded Lady Mocs suffered a two-point loss in the NCAA Division II South Regional tournament (their third consecutive NCAA Division II regional appearance) last Friday, it capped Harris’ most successful season to date in Lakeland, Florida. 

The former Decatur High School and Alabama standout was named Sunshine State Conference Coach of the Year on March 1, and her Lady Mocs team won the Sunshine State Conference championship three days later.

While the personal accolades are appreciated, Harris said the honor is one she shares with her players, as it further highlights her message of team cohesion. 

“It’s nice for other coaches to think of me like that, but to me and to all the other girls, it’s all about the team,” Harris said. “… The team has done really well, and of course, you have to have a winning team to get anything. But the most important thing to me is what we do as a team, and we won the regular season championship and the conference tournament championship.”

When Harris arrived at Florida Southern, she didn’t wait to establish her brand of basketball, as “Make it a habit” became the team’s motto. Players had won just 17 games the prior two seasons and the program had become stagnant. 

“The two years before I got here, they weren’t winning, and the players were satisfied with that — they were content,” Harris said. “And to me, once you become content, you’re not going to be successful anymore. You’ve always got to be hungry.”

After a 13-14 inaugural season, the Lady Mocs went 27-6 in Harris’ second year and reached the NCAA Division II Elite Eight, marking just the second time in Florida Southern history. The Elite Eight appearance, Harris said, grabbed her players’ attention, especially the freshmen, who Harris signed as her first recruiting class. Attracting hungry, like-minded players, Harris said, is a critical part of her recruiting strategy.

“It’s all about just trying to get the right players in here with the same thinking as me,” Harris said. “The same mentality — like I said, wanting more for themselves, and not (being) satisfied with being like everybody else.”

Harris’ success at Florida Southern isn’t an aberration. 

Following assistant coaching stints at West Alabama, Meridian Community College, East Central Community College and Troy University, Harris was hired in 2011 at the College of Coastal Georgia.

While there, she amassed 68 wins and Coastal Georgia achieved a No. 15 ranking in the NAIA polls. The Lady Mariners rattled off 20-win seasons in back-to-back years and also reached the Southern States Athletic Conference tournament. Leaving a program she revived — Coastal Georgia hadn’t fielded a team since the 1980s — wasn’t an easy decision.

“Building a team, building a program, to me was very special because it was something I could start from the ground up,” Harris said. “I will say, it was hard leaving because it felt like it was my baby, and I was leaving my baby behind. But coming here to Florida Southern was pretty exciting because it was another opportunity to build another program, but just in a different way.” 

Harris’ first recruiting class will be seniors next season, making the Lady Mocs strong contenders to repeat as back-to-back Sunshine State Conference champions. Despite her and her team’s achievements, Harris said she’s far from content.

“I’m learning something each year,” she said. “The day that you stop learning is probably the day you just need to stop what you’re doing.”