Laura Ashley Harper (born April 11, 1986) is an American basketball coach and former player who is the head women's basketball coach at Towson University. She played professionally with the Sacramento Monarchs of the Women's National Basketball Association.
| Towson Tigers | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Head coach | |||||||||||
| League | CAA | |||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||
| Born | April 11, 1986 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | |||||||||||
| Listed weight | 186 lb (84 kg) | |||||||||||
| Career information | ||||||||||||
| High school | Cheltenham (Wyncote, Pennsylvania) | |||||||||||
| College | Maryland (2004–2008) | |||||||||||
| WNBA draft | 2008: 1st round, 10th overall pick | |||||||||||
| Selected by the Sacramento Monarchs | ||||||||||||
| Playing career | 2008–2013 | |||||||||||
| Position | Power forward / center | |||||||||||
| Number | 15 | |||||||||||
| Coaching career | 2013–present | |||||||||||
| Career history | ||||||||||||
| As player: | ||||||||||||
| 2008–2009 | Sacramento Monarchs | |||||||||||
| 2008 | Beşiktaş | |||||||||||
| 2009–2010 | Umana Reyer Venezia | |||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | Antakya | |||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | Dynamo Moscow | |||||||||||
| As coach: | ||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | Loyola (Maryland) (assistant) | |||||||||||
| 2014–2016 | High Point (assistant) | |||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | George Washington (assistant) | |||||||||||
| 2017–2019 | Florida (assistant) | |||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | Montverde Academy | |||||||||||
| 2020–2022 | Coppin State | |||||||||||
| 2022–present | Towson | |||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| Stats at Basketball Reference | ||||||||||||
Medals
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High school
editHarper played for Cheltenham High School in Wyncote, Pennsylvania, where she was named a WBCA All-American. She participated in the 2004 WBCA High School All-America Game where she scored nine points.[1]
College
editLaura Harper played college basketball at the University of Maryland and was part of the 2006 National Championship team. She tore her Achilles tendon during her freshman year, but battled back to become the Most Outstanding Player of the 2006 NCAA tournament.[2]
College statistics
editSource:[3]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | GP | Points | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004–05 | Maryland | 9 | 119 | 57.0 | - | 58.3 | 9.8 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 13.2 |
| 2005–06 | Maryland | 36 | 413 | 53.5 | - | 68.3 | 7.2 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.9 | 11.5 |
| 2006–07 | Maryland | 34 | 353 | 55.1 | - | 69.7 | 6.3 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 10.4 |
| 2007–08 | Maryland | 37 | 522 | 60.3 | 50.0 | 68.9 | 8.5 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 14.1 |
| Career | Maryland | 116 | 1,407 | 56.5 | 50.0 | 68.2 | 7.5 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 12.1 |
Professional playing career
editHarper was selected in the first round of the 2008 WNBA draft, tenth overall, by the Sacramento Monarchs. As a rookie, she played 34 games and made one start. She averaged 5.5 points and 4.0 rebounds.[4]
After the WNBA season ended, she signed with Beşiktaş of the Turkish Women's Basketball League.[4] She averaged 18 points and 12 rebounds in 10 games played with Beşiktaş.[5]
In 2009, Harper returned to the Monarchs and started 11 of 33 games played. She averaged 4.5 points and 3.4 rebounds.[4] After the WNBA season, she signed with Umana Reyer Venezia of the Italian Serie A1.[6] In 16 games with Venezia, she averaged 9.6 points and 7.6 rebounds.[7]
Due to injuries, Harper sat out the 2010 and 2011 WNBA seasons.[4] She returned to action later in 2011, again in Europe, with Antakya of the Turkish league, averaging 13.3 points and 9.9 rebounds.[8]
Harper played her final season of professional basketball in 2012–13 with Dynamo Moscow of the Russian Women's Basketball Premier League. In 12 games, she averaged 7.3 points and 8.3 rebounds.[9]
WNBA career statistics
editRegular season
edit| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Sacramento | 34 | 1 | 16.5 | 47.4 | 0.0 | 58.3 | 4.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 5.5 |
| 2009 | Sacramento | 33 | 11 | 13.9 | 38.8 | 0.0 | 73.2 | 3.4 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 4.5 |
| Career | 1 year, 3 teams | 67 | 12 | 15.2 | 43.4 | 0.0 | 64.9 | 3.7 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 1.3 | 5.0 |
Playoffs
edit| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Sacramento | 3 | 0 | 14.0 | 37.5 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 3.0 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 3.3 | 3.0 |
| Career | 1 year, 1 team | 67 | 12 | 15.2 | 43.4 | 0.0 | 64.9 | 3.7 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 1.3 | 5.0 |
International career
editHarper was a member of the USA Women's U18 team which won the gold medal at the FIBA Americas Championship in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. The event was held in August 2004, when the USA team defeated Puerto Rico to win the championship. Harper started all five games and helped the team win the gold medal, scoring 12.8 points per game.[10]
Coaching career
editIn May 2013, Harper became an assistant coach at American University.[11] She left American to become an assistant at Loyola University Maryland in September 2013.[12]
Harper moved to North Carolina to become an assistant coach at High Point University in June 2014.[13]
Following High Point, Harper served as an assistant coach for a season at George Washington University before coaching for two seasons at University of Florida. She left Florida after the 2018–19 season to become the head coach at Montverde Academy on June 29, 2019.
Coppin State
editOn July 20, 2020, Harper was announced as the new head women's basketball coach at Coppin State University.[14]
Towson University
editOn April 20, 2022, Towson University announced Harper as the new head coach of their women's basketball team.[15] Harper was placed on administrative leave on May 19, 2023 for undisclosed reasons.[16] She returned from her suspension on November 29, missing the first four games of the season.[17]
Head coaching record
edit| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coppin State Eagles (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) (2020–2022) | |||||||||
| 2020–21 | Coppin State | 2–13 | 2–10 | T–3rd (North) | |||||
| 2021–22 | Coppin State | 15–13 | 9–5 | 4th | |||||
| Coppin State: | 17–26 (.395) | 11–15 (.423) | |||||||
| Towson Tigers (Colonial Athletic Association) (2022–2023) | |||||||||
| 2022–23 | Towson | 21–12 | 13–5 | T-1st | WNIT First Round | ||||
| 2022–23 | Towson | 20–11 | 11–7 | 6th | |||||
| Towson: | 41–23 (.641) | 24–12 (.667) | |||||||
| Total: | 58–49 (.542) | ||||||||
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National champion
Postseason invitational champion
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Personal life
editHarper's father Haviland Harper, Jr. played basketball at George Washington and is currently a high school basketball coach and math teacher. Haviland Harper's great-uncle, David "Big Dave" DeJernett, was a pioneering Afro-American basketball star at both pro and amateur levels in the Midwest.
Notes
edit- ^ "WBCA High School All-America Game Box Scores". Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
- ^ "Player Bio: Laura Harper". Archived from the original on March 17, 2012. Retrieved June 13, 2010.
- ^ "Women's Basketball Player stats". NCAA. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Laura Harper: Background". WNBA. Archived from the original on November 21, 2011.
- ^ "Laura Ashley Harper: Season 2008/2009". FIBA. Archived from the original on August 7, 2016. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
- ^ "Umana, il nuovo centro è Laura Harper". La Nuova di Venezia. July 11, 2009. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
- ^ "Reyer Venezia Mistre Stats 2009-10". eurobasket.com. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
- ^ "Laura Harper". High Point University Athletics. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
- ^ "Dynamo Moscow Stats 2012-13". eurobasket.com. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
- ^ "Fifth Women's Junior World Championship Qualifying Team -- 2004". USA Basketball. February 20, 2014. Archived from the original on September 12, 2015. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
- ^ "Laura Harper". American University. Archived from the original on June 17, 2016. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
- ^ "Former WNBA and Maryland Standout Harper Joins WBB Staff". Loyola University Maryland. September 3, 2013. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
- ^ "Laura Harper joins women's basketball staff". High Point University. June 19, 2014. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
- ^ "Laura Harper selected as Coppin State Women's Basketball Head Coach". Coppin State University. July 20, 2020. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
- ^ Laura Harper named women's basketball head coach
- ^ "Towson places women's basketball coach Laura Harper on leave". Baltimore Sun. May 20, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
- ^ Ott, Courtney (November 30, 2023). "Towson women's basketball claims win in Charm City Hoops Classic against Morgan State". Retrieved January 13, 2024.