Tennessee women’s basketball head coach Kellie Harper has only been on the job for less than a week, but has been hard at work, hitting the recruiting trail and making staff hires.
Harper announced two assistant coaching hires with ties to her previous stints on Monday.
Jon Harper, Kellie Harper’s husband, and Jennifer Sullivan will join the Lady Vols’ coaching staff for the 2019-20 season.
Jon Harper has served alongside his wife for all 15 of the seasons that she has been a head coach, first at Western Carolina from 2004 to 2009, then at NC State from 2009 to 2013 and most recently at Missouri State for the past seven seasons.
Sullivan was a part of Kellie Harper’s staff at Missouri State as an assistant coach for six seasons before spending the past 2018-19 season as an assistant for the Ohio State women’s basketball program.
“I am really pleased to announce the addition of Jon Harper and Jennifer Sullivan as assistant coaches on the Lady Vol coaching staff,” Kellie Harper said in a statement about the hires.
“In addition to each of them bringing different strengths to the table, there is a proven record of us working well together as a team to build measurable success in a program. Loyalty and trust are key components in how we operate every single day.”
Before Kellie Harper took her first head coaching job at Western Carolina, she and Jon worked together as assistants at both Auburn and Chattanooga under head coach Wes Moore.
The two met while on the Auburn staff and married in 1999.
At Western Carolina, where Jon Harper coached backcourt players, five different players earned All-Conference honors, as well as one Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Year award during the 2008 season.
As for Sullivan, the Jonesboro, Ark., native joined Kellie Harper’s Missouri State staff in 2013 after stints as an assistant coach at Louisiana-Lafayette and as recruiting coordinator at Arkansas State.
Sullivan has previous Tennessee ties, as well, having played four seasons at Memphis from 2001-05.
At Memphis, Sullivan was a three-year starter, scoring 800 career points, grabbing 310 career rebounds and adding 99 steals. She was named team MVP following her senior season.
Sullivan’s recruiting prowess was felt at Missouri State, where she helped the Lady Bears establish a recruiting foothold in Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas.
“Jennifer possesses great character, has a tremendous way with people, and is very intelligent and efficient in how she goes about her work.” Kellie Harper said. “Jon is terrific with game flow as well as time and score, and he displays a persistent coaching approach.
“I am excited to work beside them but even more excited for our players to have the opportunity to learn from Jennifer and Jon.”
