Men's Basketball

Richard Reed '99 enters his 13th season at the helm of the La Verne men's basketball program.

Reed is a co-chair of the National Association of Basketball Coaches Committee on Academics. The committee is responsible for naming the annual NABC Honors Court and Team Academic Excellence Awards.

He also served on the NCAA Men's Basketball Rules Committee for four years, which is responsible for formulating the official rules for the sport, ending in September 2017.

Under Reed's guidance, La Verne finished the 2012-13 campaign with an 11-14 overall mark, finishing the season 10-4 after a 1-10 start.  The Leopards placed fourth overall in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with a 9-7 league mark. The Leopard squad was represented on the 2013 D3hoops.com All-West Region Team by senior point guard Jake Vieth, marking the first-ever appearance by a Leopard player on the D3hoops.com All-Region squad.

Moreover, the duo of Trevor Woodland and Austin Napolitano were selected to the D3hoops.com All-Star Team which competed internationally during the Summer of 2012.  Both Woodland and Napolitano each scored over 1,000 points for their Leopard careers.

The Leopards returned to the SCIAC Postseason Tournament in 2017 after posting a 10-6 record in league play. La Verne went 16-10 overall on the season, including a 75-68 win over the then-No.14 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps which was also Reed's 100th career win. Hakim Arnold was named to First Team All-SCIAC and Anthony White was tabbed Second Team. Arnold also surpassed the 1,000-point mark during the 2016-17 season.

In 2010-11 under Reed, La Verne concluded with a 13-13 overall record which included an 8-6 mark in SCIAC play to finish third overall in the conference standings to earn a berth in the SCIAC Postseason Tournament.

Reed continues to prove his ability to develop players over the course of their careers. Ronn See '14, who averaged 4.4 points in his first three seasons as a Leopard, broke out to the tune of 13.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game in 2014 and was named to First Team All-SCIAC. In 2016, Arnold was named to First Team All-SCIAC as he averaged 15.3 points per game on over .500 shooting and grabbed 6.9 rebounds per game as a guard.

Reed quickly restored respectability to the Leopard program after a 5-20 season the year before his arrival. Playing the 21^st toughest schedule in Division III, La Verne nearly finished .500 in 2007-08, ending with a 12-13 overall mark as the squad went into the final game of the season still in the hunt for a top-four conference finish and a subsequent berth in the inaugural SCIAC Tournament. Moreover, the Leopards fared well in home games, sporting a 10-4 overall mark on Frantz Athletic Court. All four home defeats occurred against nationally-ranked teams.

A 1999 graduate of the University of La Verne, Reed has a total of 19 years of coaching experience which includes five years at the Division I level.

Prior to his return to La Verne, Reed completed a stint at Cal State Sacramento as an assistant during the 2006-07 campaign. At Sacramento State, Reed worked with the team’s post players while assisting with academics, recruiting, on-floor coaching and scouting. He was also in charge of fundraising and team camps. An active member of the National Basketball Coaches Association (NABC), Reed was bestowed with the prestigious NABC Service Award in 2007 while at Cal State Sacramento.

Reed also served as an assistant coach at Northern Colorado for one season (2005-06), three seasons at Loyola Marymount (2002-05), two seasons at Cal Poly Pomona (2000-02) and one year at La Verne (1999-00).

At Northern Colorado, Reed was responsible for all recruiting in California and Texas and signed top recruit Darren Moore from Chino Hills, Calif. Moore was named the “Steal of the Southland” by both NBC Channel 4 News and the Los Angeles Times. Reed also assisted with game preparation, practice planning, the development of perimeter players, as well as community outreach and program promotion. A proven teacher of the game, Reed mentored student-athlete Sean Taibi, who broke the school single-season three-point shooting record and garnered First-Team All-Independent honors.

At Loyola Marymount, Reed spent three years as an assistant on Steve Aggers’ staff, where he helped coach the program to its first winning record since the 1997-98 season. With the Lions, Reed was in charge of recruiting California junior college players, development of wing players, strength and conditioning, community service, team travel, equipment, facilities and summer camps.

During Reed’s time at Cal Poly Pomona, the team posted a two-year record of 35-19. As an assistant coach, Reed designed and implemented a total strength and conditioning program, monitored the academic progress of the student-athletes and worked closely with the community to develop positive relations through summer camps and community service programs.

Reed began his coaching career as a graduate assistant coach for the Leopard women’s basketball program during the 1999-2000 season. Reed was a two-year letter winner at La Verne from 1997-99 and graduated in 1999 with a degree in history. Prior to attending La Verne, Reed received his Associate of Arts degree at East Los Angeles College and was a two-time letter winner for the basketball squad.

Reed received a Master's in Coaching and Athletic Administration from Concordia (Irvine) in 2014.

A 1994 graduate of Bishop Amat High School, Reed earned all-league honors in basketball as a junior at Bishop Amat and led the team in assists and steals as a senior. 

A Southern California native, Reed's hobbies include reading, hiking, and gardening. 

First Team All-SCIAC Players under Reed

• 2017 - Hakim Arnold
• 2016 - Hakim Arnold
• 2014 - Ronn See
• 2013 - Jake Vieth
• 2011 - Austin Napolitano