KU News Release

KU debate coach Scott Harris named national Coach of the Year

Scott Harris

LAWRENCE — Scott Harris, now in his 16th year as debate coach at the University of Kansas, was named national Coach of the Year during the Franklin R. Shirley Classic Debate Tournament, held Nov. 11-13 at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The Coach of the Year is selected by a national panel. Two former KU debaters and four former assistant coaches who worked with Harris took part in roasting him during the Nov. 12 awards banquet.

Harris is not the first KU debate coach to earn Coach of the Year honors. Donn Parson, professor and graduate director of communication studies who coached KU debate for 24 years beginning in 1964, was named national Coach of the Year in 1971, 1980 and 1981 and Coach of the Decade for the 1970s.

Individual speakers lauding Harris included former debaters Matt Cormack of Washington, D.C., who received a bachelor’s degree in economics in spring 2006, and Todd Jordan, who received a bachelor’s degree in history and political science in spring 2005 and now is assistant debate coach at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

The four former assistant KU coaches are now head debate coaches at universities nationwide. Scott Herndon earned a bachelor of general studies from KU in fall 1998 and is now at the University of Texas-Dallas. Eric Morris received his doctorate in communication studies from KU in fall 2004 and is now at Missouri State University, Springfield, Mo. Sarah Partlow earned a KU master of communication studies in fall 1998 and coaches at Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho. Jacob Thompson, spring 2002 master’s and spring 2006 doctorate, both in communication studies, coaches at the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa.

In addition, the KU varsity team of Andrew Jennings, Silver Lake junior, and Brett Bricker, Wichita junior, placed third overall out of 138 college and university teams competing at the Wake Forest tournament.

Harris said the Wake Forest tournament attracts the largest number of debaters nationwide and typically concludes the KU debaters’ fall season. KU varsity and junior varsity debaters will resume competition in January, hoping to qualify for Cross Examination Debate Association nationals March 22-26 in Norman, Okla., and National Debate Tournament national competition March 29-April 2 in Dallas.

As one of the seven top teams in the nation, KU debaters have been invited to a Dartmouth University tournament Jan. 27-29. KU will debate teams from Dartmouth, Emory University, the University of Georgia, Harvard University, the University of Oklahoma and Wayne State University.

Earlier this year, KU’s teams were ranked first in the country in the National Debate Tournament and Cross Examination Debate Association based on points earned by teams competing in various tournaments. Rankings vary near the end of the semester, Harris said, because of delays in submitting results and calculating points, but KU teams usually rank in the top five in varsity competition.

Last year at the National Debate Tournament finals at Northwestern University, Harris was named the 11th recipient of the George Ziegelmueller Award, which is given annually by the NDT Board of Trustees to a faculty member who has excelled at coaching and teaching debate.

KU has sent more teams to the National Debate Tournament than any other college or university, Harris said. By qualifying the past 39 consecutive years, KU has the second-longest active streak of any college or university in the United States. Debaters from KU have won the national title four times and reached the Final Four 13 times.

At KU Harris-coached teams have qualified for the NDT every year, advancing teams to the elimination rounds in 12 of 15 years including Final Four appearances in 1994 and 1998.

Harris came to KU in 1991 from the University of Louisville in Kentucky, where he had been head debate coach from 1984 to 1991. He was an assistant coach at Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., from 1981 to 1984 while working on his doctorate in communication studies. He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in communication studies from Wayne State University, Detroit, Mich.

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