Former Tennessee Vols guard Tony Harris to join Memphis East basketball staff

Former Tennessee standout Tony Harris will join the boys basketball coaching staff at East next season, coach Jevonte Holmes confirmed. 

Harris is an East alum and was a McDonald's All-American coming out of high school in 1997. He and his family recently moved back to Memphis from Los Angeles. 

"I’m coaching at East because it’s only right," said Harris. "My wife and my family moved back and I wanted to get back into coaching and the opportunity arose for me to come back to East and and I wanted to take full advantage of it."

Harris won a state title at East in 1996 and is the school's all-time leading scorer. He was on the coaching staff when the Mustangs won the Class AAA state title in 2012. 

"That (East) is his school," Holmes said. "We competed against each other coming up in the ranks and he's one of the best players to ever come out of East. I'm elated to have a guy like that. An alum who has so much knowledge of the community and the school." 

He went on to play at Tennessee from 1997-2001 and averaged 13.1 points and 4.2 assists as a point guard for the Volunteers. He also played professional basketball overseas. 

"It's great because he's a skill developer and he has a great coaching mind. And he's played at every level," said Holmes. "I'm happy to have a guy like that around."

East won Class AAA state titles in 2016, 2017 and 2018 and lost in the title game this year.

"I kept up of course with James (Wiseman) and Malcolm (Dandridge) and those guys and they had a great run last year. Coming this year I know a lot of people might think that East might not have enough to get back there, but I’m willing to come in and share my experiences," said Harris. 

Harris said East will have a core of mostly freshmen and sophomores next year, but he still has high expectations. 

"We’re setting the table high for these guys and we want them to know anything is possible," said Harris. "I went to the state tournament as a freshman. So we’re coming in with high expectations."

Harris said that he is looking forward to giving back to his alma mater and his neighborhood. 

"I’m from Binghampton. I’m a Binghampton guy," said Harris. "I want to bring that championship mentality and bring a gold ball back, not just for the school but for the neighborhood."