Dana Harris will begin his seventh season as assistant coach of the Suffolk men’s basketball team in 2021-22.

Harris has helped the Rams become true student-athletes earning NABC Team Academic Award acknowledgement in the past four seasons with 11 student-athletes taking home 15 NABC Honors Court recognition. Athletically, three players have joined the 1K club and five have accounted for eight all-league honors. 

The 2020-21 season was anything, but traditional. Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, Suffolk was only allowed to participate in an abbreviated non-conference campaign. The Rams took advantage of their opportunities though and compiled a 6-2 record, which is the best ledger through eight games since the 1977-78 season. 

His fifth season was a big deal for the Rams record book wise as it marked the final campaign in the GNAC with the switch to the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) on the horizon in 2020-21. The senior class, specifically eventual third-team All-GNAC selection Thomas Duffy, spearheaded Suffolk’s success, that saw the blue-and-gold land in a four-way tie in the conference standings with a 6-5 league ledger. After tiebreakers it slipped to seventh for its eighth straight, 16th overall and last GNAC postseason run. The Rams, however, could not upset second-seed Albertus Magnus, who they defeated three weeks prior, a win that was the first for the program in seven seasons, and ended the year 14-12 overall. 

Suffolk's success continued to grow in 2018-19 as the team produced the most wins (18-8) since 1975-76 and the highest conference finish (second) since 2002 with a 9-2 league ledger. 

The stand-out season was highlighted by multiple noteworthy performances. Alexander Jacovides was acknowledged for his sharp shooting abilities and proved to be the biggest threat in the nation behind-the-arc as the 2018-19 NCAA Division III Statistical Champion in three-point field goal percentage, shooting at a 53.8 clip from downtown. Joining the sophomore in the accolades was junior Thomas Duffy and senior Steven DiPrizio, who each garnered All-GNAC recognition with spots on the first and third teams, respectively. Duffy hit a milestone as well, along with senior Michael Hagopian, as the pair both joined the Rams' 1,000-point club. 

In his third season the Rams put together the then-most wins (15-12) in over a decade, while having the best conference showing since 2005-06 with a 9-7 league ledger. In its sixth straight GNAC postseason appearance, the sixth-seeded Rams played their way to the semifinals for the first time under Juron and fourth-time in program history.

After its semis run, the history continued with a trio of student-athletes picking up all-league accolades headlined by Brendan Mulson’s GNAC Rookie of the Year nod. Second-team selection Thomas Duffy and third-team honoree Michael Hagopian, meanwhile, were the first pair of Rams to garner all-conference accolades in the same season in the Juron era and since 2001-02. Juron’s squad, meanwhile, picked up the league’s Institutional Sportsmanship Award for the second straight season.  

In his second year on Juron’s staff, Harris helped Suffolk to its fifth consecutive GNAC Tournament trip with a 7-19 overall record and 6-12 league ledger. Highlights from the 70th Suffolk men’s basketball season include Michael Hagopian’s back-to-back 30-plus point performances, a feat which happened for the first time in over a decade, along with the sophomore’s second-team All-GNAC distinction. As a squad, the Rams were awarded the conference’s Institutional Sportsmanship Award, taking home the accolade for the first time.

During his first season on the bench of Suffolk’s program the Rams turned on the engines at just the right time. Sitting at 4-15 heading into February, Suffolk won four of its final six outings to improve to 8-17 overall and 6-12 against conference competition to clinch the seventh seed in the GNAC Tournament. 

For the tournament’s quarterfinals, Suffolk ventured to second-seeded Lasell February 23, who the Rams just upset four days earlier in a 67-66 thriller. History did not repeat itself, however, as the Lasers held off the Rams, 78-64, to end the blue-and-gold’s run and season at 8-18 overall. 

Harris helped coach Rams’ to individual milestones along the way. Senior Caleb Unni, a four-time GNAC All-Sportsmanship Team selection, sealed a spot in both Suffolk’s 1,000-point club and 100-game status the same day. Classmate Adam Chick also played in his 100th career game, while fellow senior Jake Meister earned a spot on the conference’s second team. 

Prior to signing on with the Rams, Harris worked as the Lead Group Trainer for iHoop Academy, LLC, a specialized basketball academy that strives to assist players in accomplishing their basketball goals in a fun and educational environment. Specializing in one-on-one coaching, he trained players at every caliber including overseas professionals, Division I student-athletes and elite high school players.

Harris burst onto the collegiate coaching scene as a student manager of the University of Massachusetts men’s team from 2008-10. With the Minutemen, he had a chance to work in all the areas of a collegiate coaching staff including recruiting, film breakdown, fundraising and day-to-day operations. Harris was also required to have his sneakers laced and ready to go to participate in practices. 

After his time with UMass, Harris has accumulated five years of coaching experience in the high school ranks.

Harris earned his Bachelor’s in Sociology from the UMass Amherst in 2010.

Off the hardwood, Harris, who calls Mattapan, Massachusetts home, works with Playworks Massachusetts. As Program Coordinator, he plans, teaches and participates in sports-based programming during recess, in school and after school at a public elementary school in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts.