After mentoring the Seahawks to their best-ever season, winning the Capital Athletic Conference Championship, advancing to the school's first ever NCAA tournament, and leading the charge to the Sweet Sixteen last March, the bar has been raised for 2008-09, and head coach Chris Harney is undoubtedly looking forward to the challenge.  The progress has been undeniable in the three seasons that Harney has been at the helm of the men's basketball program.  With just three years of coaching the Seahawks under his belt, he is already fifth in wins (44) in the program's 42-year history.

Prior to last season's success, Harney guided the 2006-07 Seahawks to a 16-11 mark, including a 9-7 log in CAC play, marking the first time since the 2000-01 season that SMCM boasted a winning season.  The 16-11 record was a six-game improvement from the 9-16 mark posted in Harney's first season as head coach.  In the four years prior to his arrival, St. Mary's averaged only 7.75 wins per season.

Harney returned to St. Mary's after a three-year stint as the head varsity boys' basketball coach at Bel Air HS in Maryland.  He led Bel Air to a program-best 21-3 record during the 2003-04 season and was voted the Harford County Coach-of-the-Year by the Baltimore Sun.  In his three seasons at Bel Air, Harney compiled a 41-27 record and led the team to its highest area ranking in three decades.  Before becoming the varsity head coach, he served as an assistant for the 2000-01 season.

Prior to Bel Air, he spent five seasons as the head junior varsity coach at various high schools in Southern Maryland.

Harney played for the Seahawks from 1993-95 after transferring in from Ocean County College in New Jersey.  He graduated from SMCM in 1997 with a degree in history as well as teacher certification.