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Former UGA Softball Head Coach Lu Harris-Champer Named To NFCA 2025 Hall of Fame Class

The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) has announced former Georgia head softball coach Lu Harris-Champer is a member of its 2025 Hall of Fame class. 

Harris-Champer joins Kutztown University head coach Judy Lawes, University of Texas at Tyler head coach Mike Reed and VA Glory founder and owner Suzy Willemssen. This quartet will be inducted in on Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, in Las Vegas and bring the Hall’s total to 103.

Harris-Champer’s career spanned 25 seasons as a college head coach, amassing over 1,100 victories. She took teams to 23 NCAA Tournaments and seven Women’s College World Series appearances. She concludes her career in the top-25 all-time in NCAA victories with 1,168. In her career, 23 student-athletes have earned All-America status 38 times from the NFCA. 

She began her head coaching career at Nicholls State (1996-97) before taking over at Southern Miss for two seasons (1999-2000). She guided Nicholls to 94 wins in just two seasons and berths in the 1996 and 1997 NCAA Regionals. In two seasons in Hattiesburg, Harris-Champer took the Golden Eagles to back-to-back Women’s College World Series and 115 victories. 

Harris-Champer, just the second head softball coach in Georgia’s history, came to Athens prior to the 2001 season. Since then, she guided Georgia to 959 victories, two Southeastern Conference championships (2003, 2005), one SEC Tournament title (2014), 19-straight NCAA Tournament appearances, 11 Super Regionals, and five trips to Oklahoma City including final four appearances in 2009 and 2010. She was named Coach of the Year three times by the SEC (2003, 2005, 2018). 

A total of 20 Georgia Bulldogs earned NFCA All-America status 33 times under Harris-Champer’s tutelage while nearly 80 have earned All-SEC recognition and have been named NFCA All-Region honorees. Georgia carried the SEC Player of the Year once (Kim Wendland, 2005), SEC Pitcher of the Year twice (Michelle Green, 2003, 2005), and SEC Freshman of the Year once (Geri Ann Glasco, 2013). Harris-Champer’s student-athletes have appeared as finalists for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year nine times. A total of 14 players have been drafted to play professionally in the National Pro Fastpitch league. 

Off the field of play, Georgia softball produced a student-athlete on the SEC Academic Honor Roll 145 times to date and 39 on the SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll. 17 student-athletes have been named to the SEC Softball Community Service Team. Bulldogs earned CoSIDA Academic All-District distinction 12 times and two (Katie Lewis, 2005, Kasi Carroll, 2006, 2007) were named CoSIDA Academic All-America. 

Numerous student-athletes have followed in Harris-Champer’s footsteps and joined the coaching ranks. 

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