Chris Harriman

The first assistant hired to head coach Mark Fox’s staff, Chris Harriman joined the Golden Bears in April 2019 after serving under notable names such as Rick Majerus (Saint Louis), Tim Miles (Nebraska) and Paul Weir (New Mexico). He is in his fourth season on staff at Cal.

Harriman’s first season in Berkeley saw the Cal coaching staff help guide the Bears to a 14-18 overall record, up from 8-23 in the year prior, while increasing their conference win total to seven wins after securing just three wins the previous season. Cal swept both the Washington and Mountain programs in Berkeley, which included an upset of No. 21 Colorado at Haas Pavilion. The Bears capped off the season with a victory over rival Stanford at the Pac-12 Tournament before the season was cut short due to COVID-19. Harriman also contributed to the development of Matt Bradley as one of the league’s emerging stars, earning an All-Pac-12 Second Team nod. Despite a 9-20 overall mark in 2020-21, the Bears picked up yet another Pac-12 Tournament victory over rival Stanford in the first round and secured key regular-season victories over Colorado, Utah and San Francisco. Bradley was named to the All-Pac-12 Second Team for the second straight year and the Bears earned a slew of academic honors, including the NABC Team Excellence Award.

Year three for Harriman in Berkeley saw Cal post a 12-20 overall record with three Bears earning All-Pac-12 postseason honors, including honorable mentions for senior forward Andre Kelly and graduate guard Jordan Shepherd. Forward Sam Alajiki became the first Bear to earn an All-Freshman Team (honorable mention) recognition since 2016-17. An emphatic 78-64 win at Oregon helped Cal secure its first road sweep of the Oregon schools since 2014 while the Bears’ improved defensive identity fueled a stifling 53-39 victory against Stanford on Senior Day. The Bears reeled off nine consecutive home wins from Nov. 15-Jan. 2, a streak that included two Pac-12 victories over Oregon State and Arizona State.

Harriman arrived in Berkeley after four seasons as the associate head coach at the University of New Mexico, where he oversaw all aspects of the basketball program, including scheduling, recruiting and player development. He started with the Lobos under head coach Craig Neal in April 2015 and was the only assistant retained after Paul Weir was hired as New Mexico’s new head coach in 2017.

In 2017-18, Harriman helped the Lobos finish third in the Mountain West in the regular season after being selected to finish ninth overall. New Mexico earned a Mountain West Tournament first-round bye and reached the conference title game for the first time since 2014, while Harriman helped develop Antino Jackson as an All-Mountain West Defensive Team selection.

With Harriman’s help, Anthony Mathis developed into one of the Lobos’ all-time 3-point leaders, ranking in the top five, and he claimed All-Mountain West Third Team status twice. Mathis was fourth in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage in 2017-18. Harriman also mentored one All-Mountain West First Team honoree and one MW Newcomer of the Year.

Off the court, Harriman helped guide Lobo student-athletes to two CoSIDA Academic All-District selections, eight NABC Honors Court awards and eight Academic All-Conference nods. Harriman’s 2016 New Mexico squad recorded a team grade point average of 3.03 in 2016, earning the program the NABC Team Excellence Award.

Prior to his time in the Pit, Harriman spent three seasons as an assistant at Nebraska under Tim Miles, guiding Terran Petteway, Shavon Shields and Dylan Talley into All-Big Ten selections during his tenure in Lincoln. Petteway led the conference in scoring in 2013-14 and became the first Cornhusker to earn a league scoring title in six decades. Nebraska also made the NCAA Tournament that same season for the first time in 15 years.

Harriman also studied under the late Rick Majerus as an assistant coach at Saint Louis from 2008 to 2012. Working side-by-side with Majerus, Harriman helped the Billikens to a pair of 20-win seasons as they improved from the ninth-place team in the Atlantic 10 in 2008 to a second-place finish in his last year in 2012. In his final year at SLU, Harriman helped develop the Billikens into an NCAA top 25 leader in scoring defense, scoring margin, turnover margin and turnovers per game. He assumed head coach duties at SLU for one game after Majerus was hospitalized and led the team to a 75-60 win over Duquesne. The Billikens earned an NCAA Tournament berth, advancing to the round of 32 after defeating Memphis in the first round.

He began his coaching career at Nova Southeastern in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. where he helped the team to 48 wins over a four-year span. The 2005-06 Sharks squad finished with 17 wins, which marked the largest single-season NCAA Division II turnaround in 15 years.

A native of Sydney, Australia, Harriman is well-known for his international recruiting prowess and global knowledge of the game.

With his international ties, Harriman has landed numerous key international recruits from Australia and New Zealand in Rob Loe, Christian Salecich and Cody Ellis. He was the lead recruiter for four of SLU’s seven top scorers of the 2011-12 season.

Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander named Harriman one of the “Top 5 Up-and-Coming Division I Assistants” on CBS Sports, with Norlander writing, “Few guys have the international networking and contacts like Harriman. He’s the long-term valuable hire, the guy who finds the gem buried under 20 feet of mud.” Additionally, national basketball insider Jeff Goodman named Harriman one of the top three international recruiters in Division I college basketball.

He began his playing career in Australia before heading stateside and becoming a standout guard for the Augusta State (Ga.) Jaguars of the NCAA Division II’s Peach Belt Conference. During his playing career, the Jaguars won 78 games as Harriman led the conference in steals and was named the conference’s Player of the Week during his senior season.

The guard helped guide Augusta State to PBC division titles and NCAA Tournament appearances. He wrapped up his college career with 627 points and 375 assists for the Jaguars before spending the 2003-04 season with the Hunter Valley Pirates. Harriman was the runner-up for the National Basketball League’s Rookie of the Year award for the Pirates as the top first-year player in Australia’s NBL.

Harriman married his wife, Ciara, in May 2019. He has one son (Avery) and three daughters (Kacee, Elsie and Natalia). He started the #AveryStrong campaign to raise funds and awareness for pediatric cancer in honor of his son’s battle with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.