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Melvin Haralson enters his ninth season at the University of Houston in 2008-09 and his fifth as the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator. During the past four seasons, Haralson helped guide the Cougars to 81 wins and three postseason tournaments. Three of his last four recruiting classes have been nationally ranked among the nation's Top 35 schools. The Cougars were ranked No. 35 in the spring of 2004, No. 15 in 2004-05 and No. 24 in 2005-06. In 2007-08, the Cougars finished with a 24-10 record and advanced to the semifinals of the inaugural College Basketball Invitational. It was the most wins for the Cougars since 1992 and the first time the program enjoyed multiple postseason victories since 1984. In 2005-06, the Cougars won back-to-back games over nationally ranked teams for the first time since 1984 and won 21 games for the first time since 1992-93 as well. Three years ago, he helped the Cougars win 18 games and play in a postseason tournament for the first time in three years. Haralson came to Houston as an administrative assistant in 2000, a position he held for one year, and was named the director of men's basketball operations in 2001 before being promoted to assistant coach the following season. Haralson served two seasons as an assistant coach on Houston's staff before Penders was named head coach, after which he was promoted to his current position. Haralson was a successful recruiter at each of his last two stops before arriving at Houston in 2000. He helped North Texas sign one of the nation's Top-21 classes and the Southwest Region's best recruiting class in 1998. Haralson was the head assistant coach on Tom Penders' staff at Texas from 1990-95 when the Longhorns signed a pair of Top 10 recruiting classes. While there, the Longhorns won three Southwest Conference championships and earned four berths to the NCAA Tournament. The two Top 10 recruiting classes at Texas included three of the best players to play for the Longhorns - Terrance Rencher, Reggie Freeman and McDonald's All-America honoree Kris Clack. Rencher is the Longhorns' all-time scoring leader, while Freeman ranks third on the school's career scoring list. Before he joined Houston's staff, Haralson was an assistant coach at North Texas for five seasons prior to his tenure at Texas. Haralson began his coaching career as a student coach at Auburn, his alma mater, in 1988 and helped lead the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 only one year later. He began his collegiate career at Lon Morris Junior College in Texas, where he earned All-America honors in 1984-85. After transferring to Auburn in 1985-86, he was a member of the Tiger team that advanced to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight and defeated UNLV in Houston's Compaq Center. Before he began his coaching career, Haralson was an All-America Honorable-Mention high school player at perennial powerhouse Murrah High in Jackson, Miss. He earned a bachelor's degree in education in 1989 and was invited to the Los Angeles Clippers' training camp before beginning his coaching career. He and his wife, Tonia, have a son, Isaiah. The family lives in Pearland. |
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