July 11, 2007

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University softball team officially announced the addition of John Garris to its staff Wednesday as the 19-year coaching veteran will join the Bulldogs in preparation for the 2007-08 school year.

"We are really blessed to have John on our staff," said Samford head coach Beanie Ketcham. "He brings a wealth of knowledge to our program and will fit in well with the team. He has tons of experience at the collegiate level and has worked at a variety of schools. He has great connections in recruiting and definitely knows his stuff both offensive and defensively."

Garris, a native of Alabama, comes to Samford after spending the previous two seasons as the head coach at Shelton State Community College. During his time at Shelton State, he helped lead the team to a pair of postseason tournament appearances and immediately helped the squad to its first winning season in four years.

Prior to his head coaching stint at Shelton State, he worked for two seasons as an assistant coach at Rutgers University. While at Rutgers, he was responsible for all aspects of the team's hitting. Garris coached the program's all-time home run leader in 2004 and helped three players' batting averages increase by 100 percentage points.

Under Garris' instruction, one of his players at Rutgers underwent a 170 percentage point improvement in batting average and earned the team's Most Valuable Player honor in both 2004 and 2005.

"This is a great opportunity for me," said Garris. "I'm honored to be a member of the Samford family and I'm glad to have the chance to be working with Beanie. She is extremely well respected in the coaching community and is doing great things here at Samford."

Garris earned his first head coaching job at Delta State University in 1993. During his six-year tenure at Delta State, he became the school's second winningest coach in school history and was named the Gulf South Conference Coach of the Year in 1997.

He led Delta State to three-consecutive GSC West Division championships and coached two Academic All-Americans, four all-region performers and numerous all-conference players.

From 1998-2001, Garris served as the head coach at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, and then went on to take the head coaching job at Henderson State University for three seasons before moving to Rutgers in 2003.

Garris was selected to lead the United States during the Athletes International Friendship Tour to Lima, Peru in 2005 and 2007. He was also recently chosen as a head coach in the 2007 Sparkler Triple Crown All-American All-Star Game held in Westminster, Colo.

An active member of the community, Garris has been a constant SAAC Conference representative and is a member of both Athletes In Action and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He is also a long-time member of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.

Garris was raised in the Mobile area and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Alabama in 1984. He has since received his Master of Science degree (1986) and Master of Arts degree (1993) from Alabama.