Women's Basketball 10/31/2018 2:17:00 PM

New Era to Begin with Lady Jaguars Basketball

Danville, Illinois - The Erika Harris Era is set, an Danville Area Community College Women's Basketball program has their eyes set on laying a solid foundation and breeding a winning culture.

Coach Harris is native to Ohio, and has spent the last couple years coaching at Niagara University  serving as an assistant coach. Prior to coaching, Harris was also an alumni for the Niagara University Purple Eagles.

Although Coach Harris is the new coach in Danville, she is very familiar with the structure and has seen DACC Women's Basketball be at the top of the conference. Harris served as Kyle Bent's assistant coach from 2012 - 2014 where they both compiled an overall record of 44-20 and in their second season achieved a 9-1 MWAC Conference record. It is safe to say Coach Harris knows how to win and has been apart of the DACC Women's Basketball program when they were atop of the conference.

"Seeing what this program is capable of definitely makes me excited for future recruiting, Kyle Bent did a phenomenal job here at DACC finding talented athletes in Illinois and Indiana, I only want to continue to establish success off what he demonstrated during his time here. I have an awesome assistant Hannah Cronk, shes a local around the Vermilion County Area so she is aware of the local talent. We are extremely excited."

Last season the Lady Jaguar's held a 3-25 Overall Record, and 0-10 MWAC record. The ceiling is high for Coach Harris as she is set to bring in new core values, and establish the culture she once knew.

"You can expect the Lady Jaguar Basketball Program to mimic hustle, grit, and heart"

All of these traits are exactly what Coach Harris exemplifies onces you meet her....

This will be Erika's first head coaching job, although she has been able to deal with many roles in her experiences, this is a goal she has set out for a long time.

"For the longest time once I got here, it never really hit me that I was the most important piece and head coach.... I just saw it as I am coaching basketball"

Harris's best trait is she is a family oriented coach, bringing in and establishing an effective communication line between her and second year assistant coach Hannah Cronk. Harris states, "You know I tell my assistant coach (Hannah Cronk) all the time, we're working together, you're not working for me"

Hearing all this positive talk from Coach Harris already brings a new meaning to Lady Jaguar Basketball, she looks to improve on a off-season and rebuild the culture she knows is capable of being demonstrated here. Coach Harris mentions some key players that will help contribute to the success of the program.

"Kylie Vogel is one who will set our tone and standard, she has put in the work in the off-season and has improved tremendously. She continues to push herself and her energy is rubbing off on her teammates. It's a beautiful thing when you see players start to buy into the culture and standard. Kylie has taken well to the new coaching change and I could not be more thrilled to watch her and her teammates succeed this year. Another is Lela McCoy, she has improved immensely and is always in the gym. I know our numbers are not the highest they have been in program history, but I believe we have the right nucleus to be successful"

The Lady Jaguars are set to tip off on November 1st, 2018 beginning at 5:30 PM in Danville, Illinois at Mary Miller Gymnasium. The first act of a 2 part night. They host Rend Lake Lady Warriors (9-19) in 2017-2018. This will be a good first match up for Harris and her basketball program, hope to see you there!

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Players Mentioned

#2 Lela McCoy: G; 5' 3"; Freshman

#22 Kylie Vogel: C; 6' 0"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#2 Lela McCoy
: 5' 3"; Freshman
: G

#22 Kylie Vogel
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: C

Players Mentioned

#2 Lela McCoy

#22 Kylie Vogel

Players Mentioned

#2 Lela McCoy

#22 Kylie Vogel