GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Adell Harris has announced she will be stepping down as the women's basketball coach at Tusculum College to accept a similar position at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, according to Tusculum athletics director Frankie DeBusk. Harris was introduced as the new head coach of the NCAA Division I Seahawks in a press conference on Thursday.

Harris shaped Tusculum into the flagship Women's basketball program in the South Atlantic Conference in just three seasons at the helm, guiding the Pioneers to a 61-30 record, including back-to-back Food Lion SAC Tournament championships (2010 & 2011) and three straight trips to the NCAA Division II Tournament.

Harris replaces Cynthia Cooper-Dyke, who resigned her UNCW post last month to accept the head coaching position at Texas Southern University. Cooper-Dyke led the Seahawks to back-to-back trips to the Women's National Invitational Tournament and consecutive 20-win campaigns.

It has been a successful formula for the Tusculum women's basketball program in regards to its previous two head coaches, who have won with the Pioneers, before moving onto the Division I level. Former TC head coach Missy Tiber led the Pioneers to four straight winning seasons (86-33) from 2005-09, including back-to-back SAC titles and the program's first two trips to the NCAA Tournament. In 2009, Tiber left Greeneville for NCAA Division I Southern Illinois University.

Championship success is nothing new for Harris, who has a 9-4 postseason record (SAC/NCAA) with the Pioneers and has claimed five championships in eight years as a collegiate coach. Tusculum's 35-17 record in SAC regular-season games during Harris' tenure is the best mark among the league's 10 colleges and universities.

"The job Adell has done with our women's basketball program the last three years has been outstanding," said DeBusk. "She has been instrumental in continuing the rich tradition of excellence our women's basketball program has been accustomed too. UNC Wilmington is getting a fine coach, but more importantly, a very fine person and she will be greatly missed."

This past season, Tusculum posted a 17-11 record and earned the program its seventh straight winning season and fifth consecutive NCAA Division II Tournament berth, a first by any South Atlantic Conference program. The Pioneers opened the season 5-0, including victories over 2011 defending DII national champion and top-ranked Clayton State and 2012 NCAA Champion Shaw University. TC's 63-51 victory over No. 1 Clayton State on Nov. 25, 2011 marked the highest ranked opponent a Pioneer team has ever defeated. During the season, Harris mentored two All-Conference selections in forward Staci Hicks and three-point shooting guard Kendal Baxter.

In 2010-11, Tusculum opened the season ranked third in the USA TODAY/ESPN Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll, and finished the season with a 21-9 record and the SAC regular-season and postseason crowns. A 10-game winning streak at midseason propelled the Pioneers to the top of the SAC standings, and Tusculum swept its way to its second straight tournament championship.

Senior guard Jasmine Gunn was once again honored as the SAC Player of the Year and earned the Daktronics Southeast Region Player of the Year award for the second straight season. Gunn averaged a league-best 18.7 points per game and finished her career ranked second in program history and third in conference history with 2,180 points.

Harris played a key role in the development of 6-8 center Catherine Hintz into an All-South Atlantic Conference honoree and the 2011 Food Lion SAC Tournament Most Valuable Player award recipient. Hintz averaged 12.0 points per game and led the team in field-goal percentage (54.2 percent), rebounds per game (8.1) and blocked shots (44).

Tusculum's 83-64 victory at 7th-ranked Indianapolis represented the highest-ranked opponent the Pioneers have ever defeated at that time. As a team, the Pioneers won the SAC statistical championship in scoring defense by allowing just 60.1 points per game. Harris was honored by her peers on the Tusculum coaching staff for the second straight year as the recipient of the Art Argauer Coach of the Year Award.

Harris' first season with the Pioneers was a memorable one, as she led the Pioneers to their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight while capturing the school's first Southeast Region Championship. Harris also led the Pioneers to their first-ever postseason ranking, concluding the campaign as the ninth-ranked team in the final USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches' Poll.

"I am so thankful for the opportunity Frankie DeBusk gave me to be his women's basketball coach three years ago," Harris said. "He believed in my abilities and entrusted the success of a nationally ranked program into the hands of a 29-year old assistant coach. I cannot thank him enough for taking a chance on me and I will forever be indebted to him."

"Tusculum has been a tremendous experience for me and I have loved every second of being the Women's basketball coach here. I will miss all those that worked so hard to support our program, our student-athletes and myself personally. To (Tusculum) President Nancy Moody, the Pioneer Club, Deborah Davis, Randy Loggins, Dom Donnelly, Jim Miller and to all of my fellow Pioneer coaches, thank you very much."

"I am thankful for every player that gave me permission to challenge them to be great. I appreciate their commitment to me and our program."

The High Point, N.C. native guided the Pioneers to their first-ever Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament title, jumpstarting a magical NCAA Tournament run that included victories over the top three seeds in the Southeast Region Tournament. The 2009-10 Pioneers posted the program's third-straight 20-win season, winning 14 of their last 17 contests en route to a 23-10 overall record, and finishing the campaign as one of the hottest teams in the nation.

Tusculum also added an impressive collection of individual hardware to its mantle in Harris' first year at the helm, led by Gunn, who became the first player in the program's history at the NCAA Division II level to be named a consensus All-American in the WBCA/State Farm, Daktronics, and Women's Division II Bulletin programs.

Gunn also became the program's first Daktronics Southeast Region Player of the Year, while garnering the school's first South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year honors. Under Harris' tutelage, Gunn took her game to another level, finishing the season ranked seventh in the nation in scoring (21.6) while posting the program's third-highest single-season marks in both scoring average and total points (713).

Harris was also instrumental in the development of one of the top three-point shooters in the nation, as Kendal Baxter set a program- and SAC-record with 105 three-pointers, while surpassing what was believed to be the NCAA Division II mark for triples by a freshman. For her efforts, Baxter was named to the SAC All-Freshman Team.

Harris joined the Pioneer family prior to the 2009-10 season after serving the last six seasons on the coaching staff at NCAA Division I UNC Asheville, including two years as associate head coach. Harris helped guide UNC Asheville to four winning seasons, including a 21-12 record in the Bulldogs' 2006-07 campaign, culminating in a Big South Conference Tournament title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament, both firsts in school history.

In her first UNCA season, the Bulldogs posted a 19-9 record and finished second in the Big South standings. UNCA's 19 victories were a 16-win improvement from a season before (3-25), earning the squad NCAA Most Improved Team in the Nation honors.

Harris mentored nine All-Big South Conference honorees during her tenure at UNCA, including two Conference Freshmen of the Year, Brittany Hendley (2004) and Kyla Jones (2007).

Harris played her collegiate career at Wake Forest University, where she was a four-year letter-winner for the Demon Deacons. During her senior campaign, she led Wake Forest with 108 assists and averaged 4.6 points per game, while also serving as team co-captain. She wrapped up her career 10th on Wake's all-time list with 241 career assists. Harris graduated from Wake in 2002 with a Bachelor's degree in Sociology.

Harris began her coaching career as an assistant coach at her prep alma mater T. Wingate Andrews High School in High Point during the 2002-03 campaign. She also served as head coach of the Piedmont X-Press AAU team from 1998-2003. She is also a member of the Women's Basketball Coaches' Association.

DeBusk indicated that a national search to find Harris' replacement is currently underway.

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