Booker T. HarrisHead Coach, Men's Basketball
E-mail: booker.harris@dominican.edu
Twitter: @BookerTHarris
In just three seasons, Harris transformed a team that went just 4-22 before his arrival to 11-18 in 2011–12 to a 16-10 mark in 2012–13 and the number four seed in the Pacific West Championships, then a team that in 2013-14 went 22-8 and finished in second place en route to the PacWest Championship game. For the Penguins' outstanding 2012–13 season, Harris was named the 2012-13 PacWest co-coach of the year. He was named Dominican's Coach of the Year in 2013-14.
With championship experience as a player and coach in NCAA Division I and II, Booker T. Harris was named head men’s basketball coach at Dominican University of California on May 17, 2011 with a goal to develop excellence and allow student-athletes to maximize their full potential on and off the court.
“I love this game and realize the only way to play it is hard, play as a team and take pride in getting defensive stops,” Coach Harris says. “I want my team to wear their PPE — Pride, Passion, and Enthusiasm.”
Harris, a member of the University of San Francisco Dons’ NCAA Division I tournament team in 1998, came to Dominican after spending the previous two seasons as the top assistant coach for NCAA Div. II perennial powerhouse Metro State in Denver.
In his two seasons at Metro State, Harris helped the Roadrunners to a 46-15 record and two NCAA Div. II appearances. During the 2010-11 season, Metro State lost by four points in the NCAA Central Region semifinals to top-seeded Minnesota State on Mavericks’ home floor in Mankato. Minnesota State (28-5) lost to eventual NCAA Div. II tournament champion Bellarmine in the NCAA Div. II Elite Eight.
Metro State, which won NCAA national titles in 2000 and 2002, is the winningest men’s basketball program in NCAA Div. II history. The Roadrunners have an all-time NCAA tournament record of 30-13 in 15 trips. Metro State currently has 13 players competing in professional basketball in the United States and abroad.
Harris has been involved with multiple championship teams at the NCAA Div. I and NCAA Div. II levels from the West Coast Conference to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Before Metro State, he spent two seasons as Director of Basketball Operations at NCAA Div. I University of San Diego. In 2008, the Toreros won the WCC tournament and upset UConn in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.
Harris also was a member of a championship team at Cal State San Bernardino where he was an assistant coach for four seasons when the Coyotes compiled an 86-28 record, setting a California Collegiate Athletic Association record with six consecutive conference titles. In 2006-07, San Bernardino won the NCAA West Region and advanced to the Final Four of the NCAA Div. II tournament. Harris helped coach and develop Ivan Johnson, now a power forward with the NBA's Atlanta Hawks.
“Booker has certainly paid his dues in the profession and is a very hard working and diligent coach. His experience here, at San Bernardino and at Metro State has prepared him for this opportunity. Dominican is getting a tremendous person that will connect well with people in the community,” said University of San Diego head coach Bill Grier.
In 2002-03, Harris was the strength and conditioning coach at NCAA Div. I Long Beach State. He began his coaching career in 2001-02 as an assistant coach at Sonoma State University where he earned his master’s degree in Business Administration.
A two-time member of the WCC’s All-Academic team, Harris played for Coach Phil Mathews at USF where he graduated in 1999. The 6-foot-1 guard played three seasons for the Dons and was a member of USF’s WCC tournament championship team in 1998. The Dons lost in the opening round of the NCAA tournament that year to Utah, which played all the way to the NCAA tournament championship game.
Harris, a native of San Francisco, went to USF from Bridgemont High School, a private Christian college preparatory school in Daly City. At Bridgemont, Harris averaged nearly 28 points a game in his senior year playing for Booker Harris Sr., his father and longtime high school basketball coach. The USF-bound guard left Bridgemont as the school’s all-time leading scorer until his younger brother, Eddy Harris, surpassed him three years later. Eddy is currently an assistant coach at Skyline Junior College in San Bruno.
In the summer, Harris has organized and coached at many youth basketball camps, including a Golden State Warriors camp at Redwood High School in Larkspur in 1999. He also competed in the San Francisco Pro/Am League and in the Drake High School Summer Basketball League in San Anselmo.
Harris enjoys movies, reading, and travel. His family includes a cousin, Ernest Fields, who was a member of the Austin Peay University men’s basketball team that played in the NIT in 2007 and NCAA tournament in 2008.
Rich MendozaAssisant Coach, Men's Basketball
E-mail: richard.mendoza@dominican.edu
With playing and NCAA Division I and II coaching ties from Southern California to Alaska and plenty of post-season experience in between, Rich Mendoza begins his first season as the Penguins’ top assistant coach in men’s basketball. His coaching has helped the development of many young players including Josh Childress, a McDonald’s High School All-American who went on to play at Stanford and in the NBA. Childress was at Mayfair High in Lakewood when Mendoza was head freshmen and assistant varsity basketball coach from 1998–2000. Mendoza’s father, Joe, was a former Los Angeles Times Coach of the Year at Santa Fe Springs High School. Rich was an All-CIF guard for Brethern Christian High of Huntington Beach when it advanced to the CIF Division V championship game in 1993 and played for a conference championship team at Cerritos College in Norwalk. Mendoza, who earned his bachelor’s degree from Long Beach State in Human Development in 2002, has been an assistant coach under five head coaches who have been named Coach of the Year at least once in their respective conference. He previously has coached at San Francisco State (2008), University of Alaska Fairbanks (2005–07) and Humboldt State (2002–04).
At San Francisco State, Mendoza coached for former Penguins head coach Bill Treseler, a member of the inaugural class in the Dominican Athletics Hall of Fame.
At Alaska-Fairbanks, Mendoza was an assistant on the Nanooks’ 2004–05 Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) championship team that played in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Div. II tournament. In Mendoza’s last season as an assistant at Humboldt in Arcata, the Lumberjacks won the GNAC title, achieved a No. 1 ranking nationally and advanced to the Final Four of the NCAA Div. II tournament. Prior to Humboldt, Mendoza was video coordinator during the 2001–02 season at UC Irvine when the Anteaters won the Big West Conference championship and played in the National Invitational Tournament. Mendoza arrived at Dominican from College of the Redwoods where he was head coach for the past three seasons. Mendoza’s 2009-10 team won a Golden Valley Conference championship. He also coordinated the school’s spring AAU basketball league. Dominican is the fourth NCAA Div. II school Mendoza has coached at. The previous three advanced to post-season play. Mendoza, who is single, enjoys family, music, and outdoor sports/activities.
Kurt BaughnAssisant Coach, Men's Basketball
E-mail: kurt.baughn@dominican.edu
Kurt Baughn joined the Dominican men's basketball staff for the 2011–12 season. His duties with the Penguins include assisting with player skill development and film exchange. A certified NSCA strength and conditioning specialist, Coach Baughn works with the team's weight training and conditioning.
Prior to coming to Dominican, Coach Baughn was an assistant coach and adjunct professor at Solano College in Fairfield for six years. He earned a BS in Kiniesiology from Long Beach State in 2004 and an MS in Kiniesiology from Cal State East Bay in 2007.
Coach Baughn is currently a fitness manager for 24 Hour Fitness and is a USA weight lifting sports performance coach.
Connor Haysbert
Assisant Coach, Men's Basketball
As a student-athlete, Haysbert's contributions to the Penguins were vital to transforming a program that went 4-22 his freshman year to 22-8 by his senior season. He finished his career as the Penguins' all-time career leader in several categories in the Division II era, most notably in games played (111), points (986), and rebounds (437). He holds the single-season records for field goals made (149), free throws attempted (140), and rebounds (181), all set as a senior in 2013-14. He scored a career-high 29 points against Dixie State on Feb. 20, 2014.
Haysbert graduated with a degree in Biological Sciences in May 2014 and was named Dominican's Outstanding Student at commencement. Additionally, he was named to the Capital One Academic All-District NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Team for District 8 (West Region), a member of the NABC Honors Court twice, All-PacWest Second Team as a senior, PacWest Player of the Week twice during his senior campaign, and was among the 118 nominees for the 2014 Allstate NABC Good Works Team®.
