2011-12 Men's Basketball Coaches

Sam Harris begins his 19th season at the helm of the Trevecca program. Harris has led the program to four NAIA National Tournament appearances and a pair of TranSouth Championships.

Five of his players have been selected as NAIA All-Americans, eight have been named honorable-mention All-Americans, two have been elected to the Trevecca Athletic Hall of Fame, two have been named TranSouth Player of the Year, and many more have been selected all-conference. Harris has led three teams to the NAIA Sweet 16. Harris has 454 all-time wins, 293 of those wins at Trevecca.

Harris, in his 28th season as a head coach on the collegiate level, has rebuilt three programs in his career. He has led all three schools to the conference title and post-season play after taking over a program that was below .500 the year before he was named head coach.

A 1978 graduate of Olivet Nazarene University, Harris starred alongside his brother Steve Harris, while playing for former Trevecca Hall of Fame coach Frank Wilson at Olivet. After graduation Harris was an assistant coach at Judson College in Elgin, Ill. He inherited a program that was 15-110 during the previous six years and by his third year had led the team to an 18-10 record. In his fourth year, Judson finished 24-7, winning a district championship and earning a berth in the NCCAA National Tournament.

In 1984, Harris moved to NCAA Division I Central Florida as an assistant coach and then moved to Valparaiso University as an assistant before taking the head coaching position at Messiah College in Grantham, Pa., in 1988. Harris took a program that had lost 82 of its previous 88 games and won a conference championship in his third season, going 15-10 and winning the MAC Coach of the Year award.

Sam and his wife, Donna, have two sons, Tyson and Christopher, and live in Brentwood.

Chris begins his third season as an assistant for the Trojans. He played four years for Trevecca and played in 124 games, scoring 808 points. He scored a career-high 22 points on two occasions and added a rare triple-double. Harris helped lead the Trojans to a pair of 20-win seasons and two trips to the NAIA Championships. In each trip, the Trojans advanced to the final 16. During his four seasons the team posted an 80-50 record, including a mark of 39-27 in TranSouth play.

He was a two-time NAIA Scholar-Athlete and a three-time TranSouth Scholar-Athlete. Chris prepped at Overton High School in Nashville prior to attending Trevecca.

Chris is married to former Trojan Mariska (Reed) Harris. The couple resides in Nashville.

Chris Hight returns for his seventh year with the Trojans, after coaching stints at Lambuth University and Overton High School. Chris continues to serve the staff in many areas, but his primary concentration is with the shooting camps, summer camps, scouting and recruiting. His knowledge and player relationships allow Chris to help each player become successful on and off the court for the Trojans.

Hight played college basketball for NCAA Division-I Georgia State University, Aquinas College, and Lambuth University. He was an all-conference performer his senior year.

Hight, who had a standout high school career in Nashville, currently resides in Nashville.

Josh begins his fifth season as the team's video director. Josh, a Mt. Juliet High School graduate, attended Middle Tennessee State University before transferring to Trevecca to finish his undergraduate degree. He worked for the Trevecca Sports Information Office one year prior to joining the basketball staff.  

Josh, who teaches elementary school in Wilson County, has assisted with the team's annual golf tournament and is an active member of Hermitage Church of the Nazarene.

Josh resides in Mt. Juliet and plans to continue pursuing a career in teaching and coaching.

Mike Petrone enters his twelfth year as an assistant for the Trojan program. He has coached at the collegiate level and several high schools, all in the Middle Tennessee region.

His high school coaching stints include: Father Ryan, Centennial, and White House-Heritage, while collegiate stops were at Vanderbilt, Cumberland and Trevecca.

Coach Petrone brings great insight into player development, scouting and preparation.

Petrone and his wife, Donna, reside in Nashville.

Matthew enters his second season as a graduate assistant with the Trevecca men's basketball program.

As a senior he was named NAIA Honorable Mention All-American after averaging 17.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 48.3% from the field, 46% from three-point range (75-163) and 85.1% from the free-throw line.

He ammassed career totals of 1,263 points, 344 rebounds, 329 assists, and 130 steals in 112 games played. Elliott shot 50.9% from the field as a Trojan, including 45.6% from three-point range, and made 81.9% of his free throws.

Elliott was a three-time TranSouth Scholar Athlete and a two-time NAIA Scholar Athlete. As a senior, he was selected First Team All-TranSouth. Matthew was named to the TranSouth All-Freshman team, despite only playing during the second semester of his first year at Trevecca.

Matthew and his wife, Jenny, reside in Nashville.