Bronx CC hires Howie Harrison as men’s basketball head coach

Bronx Community College named Howie Harrison its new men’s basketball head coach, betting on a veteran with more than two decades of coaching, athletic administration, student development and educational leadership experience to steady a program that wants to move back toward the top of Region XV.

Harrison arrives from Hostos Community College, where he served as associate head men’s basketball coach and helped rebuild one of the NJCAA’s stronger city programs. Bronx CC said his work there helped produce 97 players who advanced to four-year colleges, 15 NJCAA Academic All-Americans and a 95 percent graduation rate among student-athletes, a résumé that fits a junior-college job built as much on transfers and retention as on wins and losses.

That background matters in Bronx. NJCAA programs turn over fast, and the first job for a new coach is usually not drawing up a pet set, but assembling a roster that can function immediately, setting standards in practice and making sure players know what the next step looks like academically and athletically. Bronx CC said Harrison has built a strong reputation in the Bronx youth basketball community and Region XV, and Director of Athletics Dionne Dodson called the college “extremely excited and fortunate” to welcome him.

The hire is also part of a broader reset. Bronx CC athletics framed Harrison’s arrival as a push to help the Broncos return to prominence, and that is not a hollow phrase. The program has real history, including a 95-68 win over Nassau in the NJCAA Region XV final on February 29, 2012, a result that sent the Broncos to NJCAA Nationals as the first CUNYAC team there since 2008. Former head coach Sean Kelly also left a marker, going 74-43 over five seasons at Bronx Community College.

For Harrison, that is the blueprint and the burden. Bronx CC is not starting from scratch, but it does need someone who can rebuild the day-to-day habits, sharpen the recruiting board and give returning players a clearer role structure. In a league where one strong transfer class can change a season, Harrison’s track record at Hostos gives the Broncos a credible base for the first year of the rebuild.