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Commencement Speaker, Spring 2008
Mr. Del Harris is one of the most experienced professional coaches in the National Basketball Association and currently serves as advisor to the Dallas Mavericks. He was the 20th coach in NBA history to record over 500 wins and in 1994-95, when with the Los Angeles Lakers, was named the NBA’s Coach of the Year. He has developed many young players into All-Stars in the NBA. The Plainfield, Indiana native has produced champions at virtually every level in 48 years of coaching, including the NBA, collegiate, overseas and high school ranks.
Mr. Harris attended Milligan College in Tennessee, where he graduated cum laude in 1959 with a degree in religion. He earned a master’s degree in history from Indiana University in 1965 and has written numerous magazine articles and books on basketball coaching, with some being used as college textbooks. He is a member of four Hall of Fames, National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), Indiana Basketball, Earlham College and Milligan College. He is a member of the Screen Actor's Guild having appeared in such features as "Space Jam" and "Diagnosis Murder".
Del is the father of five children and grandfather of nine. He and his wife, Ann, have generously given back to the community in which they have lived, being involved in many charitable outlets. Together they formed the Del and Ann Harris Foundation, which is active in promoting Christian education, missions and other worthy causes.
Del and Ann have been friends and partners with Hope International University for over eight years and have helped sponsor HIU golf tournaments, Celebrate Hope Dinners and the Share the Hope Campaign. Coach Harris was chairman of the Capital Campaign for Hope for the construction of the Lawson-Fulton Student Center where the fitness center is named after him and his wife Ann.