A native of Hanover, Mass., Michael Harding enters his second year on the UMass Lowell coaching staff and his first as associate head coach in 2014-15.
Harding, who joined the River Hawks prior to their first season as a member of NCAA Division I America East Conference, came to UMass Lowell following three years as the head coach at Saint Michael’s College, as well as five years as an assistant/associate head coach at Stonehill College.
During the 2010-11 season, Harding led Saint Michael’s to the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament for the first time since 2007 and earned a 66-60 first-round victory over Lemoyne en route to a quarterfinal apearance.
Previously, Harding served an assistant coach and later the associate head coach at Stonehill from 2005-10 where he helped guide the Skyhawks to a five-year clip of 106-47. During that span, Stonehill captured the NE-10 regular season championships in 2005-06 and 2009-10; and went to the NCAA Tournament three times: 2006, 2009 and 2010.
In 2006, Harding’s first season, Stonehill captured the NCAA East Region title and won its first game in the Elite Eight over Tarleton State before falling to Winona State in the semifinal.
Prior to Stonehill, Harding was an assistant coach at his alma mater, Bowdoin College.
A four-year player and two-year starter at Bowdoin, Harding captained the Polar Bears as a senior and was the recipient of the Sarah and James Bowdoin Scholar Award for academic excellence. He was also selected as the Lenox Foundation Book Award honoree for his exemplary scholarship and earned the Hixon Memorial Leadership Prize in his senior year.
Harding earned a bachelor’s degree in government and legal studies from Bowdoin in 2003 and went on to earn his master’s degree in education from Tufts University in 2007.
A graduate of Boston College H.S., Harding was an All-Catholic Conference standout and helped lead BCHS to conference championships in three of his four years.
Harding resides in Easton, Mass., with his wife, Kristen, and three sons: Charlie (4) and twins Brendan and Andrew (2).
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