Wynn Harris was introduced on Friday as the next Owensboro High School girls’ basketball head coach. Harris, who has 25 years of head coaching experience, led Henry Clay to a state championship in 1990. Harris replaces Jansen Locher, who recently resigned after eight seasons.
A driver’s education teacher, Harris joined the teaching staff at Owensboro two years ago and said he has been mesmerized by the culture when walking the hallways.
“Potential greatness. That’s what this school has. Potential greatness,” Harris said. “What you want as a coach and player is the opportunity to be great. That is all you can ask for. You don’t want it handed to you, but you want the opportunity to be great. What I am telling you is this program has the opportunity to be great.”
Harris has been retired as a coach for the past five years. While watching this 9th District tournament, though, he realized he was ready to return to the coaching world.
“Rick Pitino did a great job at St. Johns when he said this, and I turned to my wife and said the same thing … When you are out, you never know if you are going to get back in. When you do, every practice is special because you’re back,” he said. “I got back in at a great program. I will put Owensboro up against any program in the state of Kentucky. It has everything to win. It is great to be back, but it is great to be back here.”
Over his career, Harris has utilized the Princeton coaching style and a version of the 1-1-3 and stated that teams need to be able to play man defense.
“Here is what we always figured out. Make the offense think,” Harris said. “If you get them thinking, now they are struggling offensively. On the other end, you have to be one. It’s five players, but they have to be one. Make them do something they don’t want to do defensively.”
Harris was hired by Henry Clay at the start of the 1989 season as a 20-year-old, leading them to a semifinal appearance and a state championship over four seasons. He then coached at Lexington Christian, leading them to an All A title in 1994. Harris went on to coach at Bardstown, Trigg County, and Blue Grass Baptist before serving as the boys’ coach at Hickman in 2019 and 2020.
