MISSOULA — Nate Harris, who led the Lady Griz on a stirring run to the Big Sky Conference championship game last week in Boise in an interim role, has been named head coach of the Montana women’s basketball program.
Harris has agreed to a three-year contract, pending approval by the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education.
“Nate has done a tremendous job leading the Lady Griz over these past several weeks, and I am excited to watch where he takes this program,” said UM director of athletics Kent Haslam.
“During the interview process he articulated a clear vision and plan for recruiting high-quality student-athletes from Montana and beyond. His goal and our expectation is for the Lady Griz to win conference championships, compete with toughness and be great stewards and representatives of this treasured program.”
Harris joined the Lady Griz staff in the spring of 2021 as an assistant coach and was elevated to associate head coach after two seasons.
He was named interim head coach in mid-January this past season and guided the program through the remainder of the regular season.
Last week in Boise, he led No. 6 Montana to victories over No. 3 Idaho in the quarterfinals and No. 2 Northern Arizona in the semifinals.
In the championship, Montana’s first appearance in the title game since 2015, Montana fell to No. 1 seed Montana State 58-57 on a last-second shot.
Born in Sidney and raised in Ronan, Harris graduated from Montana Tech in 2007.
