By Corey J. Corbin
Allied News Sports Editor
When Slippery Rock University went looking for the right person to be its head men’s basketball coach, their search unexpectedly took them to Kentucky’s Rowan County and Morehead State University.
The Rock named former MSU assistant coach Kevin Reynolds as its newest head coach Wednesday during a press conference at the University Club.
“Being a head college basketball coach has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember,” Reynolds said. “It’s a dream come true. I’m grateful for the opportunity presented to me by Slippery Rock University. I’m excited to be a head coach at a university that has so many academic and athletic positives.”
Reynolds, 38, replaces Jamal Palmer, who served as SRU’s interim head coach for the past two seasons. Palmer led The Rock to a 7-20 mark last winter.
“My plan is to return Slippery Rock basketball to the standards of excellence that they displayed in the late 1980s,” Reynolds said. “This will recquire the involvement and committment of the entire Slippery Rock community. The foundation of our program will be the student athletes. We will expect our current and future student athletes to be committed to continuous improvment on the court and in the classroom.”
Slippery Rock chose Reynolds after the university received over 180 applications for the men’s head coaching position.
“It was a long process,” SRU athletic director Paul Leuken said. “We had over 180 applicants for the men’s basketball coaching position. There were 10 people that really stood out out of those 180. It was tough to get through all those people, but Kevin met all the criteria that we were looking for. We were looking for a specific set of characteristics. He was very impressive when we talked to him here on campus.
“We knew right away that he was the guy. There’s a saying in college basketball right now about when you’re looking for a new coach and whether he has ‘It.’ I don’t know what ‘It’ means, but I think Kevin has ‘It.’ We’re glad he’s here.”
His familiarity with the conference and the chances at The Rock for being successful were what drew Reynolds to Slippery Rock from the Division I level.
“The familiarity of the university and the league,” he said when asked what drew him to The Rock. “When you’re going to take your first head coaching position, you have to make sure it’s a place you can have success at and you have to be familiar with the surroundings. I am extremely familiar with our competition and who we need to beat.”
Reynolds impressed the search committee that included faculty representative Brian Crow, assistant to the athletic director Andy Major and SRU women’s basketball coach Laurel Heilman.
“He knocked our socks off,” Major said. “When he came in to meet with us, he had a folder of where every kid from Pennsylvania is playing college basketball whether it be Division I, Division II or Division III. Another thing we liked was his organizational skills. When we brought in each of the final candidates, we had them meet with different groups like other university coaches or basketball players. He was the only finalist who didn’t have a group find something negative to say about him.”
Lueken was impressed with Reynolds’ contact and familiarity with the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.
Reynolds played at PSAC-East member Bloomsburg (1987-91) and was an assistant coach at PSAC member schools IUP (91-95, 96-97) and Edinboro (95-96) before ascending to the Division I level with the University of Denver (2006-07), Drake and Morehead State University (07-08).
“His organization skills that he talked about and showed us in the short time that he was on campus were incredible,” Lueken said. “His connections to college basketball in Division I and Division II ... he knows people in the game and that’s important. His experience is awesome. He’s played in the league at Bloomsburg. He’s coached in the league at IUP. He’s had great experience in Division I and has worked with some great coaches. He’s got a thorough knowledge of our recruiting base. He came in (last Wednesday) night and already is looking to bring some new players on board.”
Regardless of which players are ‘on board’ for the 2008-09 season, Reynolds intends to employ a solid defense and would like to attack the basket offensively.
“The first thing we need to do is find what kind of structure the returning players have,” he said. “I haven’t had the opportunity to watch them play in person. Over the next few days, I’m going to watch some tape and see what kind of players we have.
“Ideally, we want to guard and play defense. We want to hold teams to as little points as possible. The way we’re going to do that, initially, is get back on defense and limit their transition baskets. Secondly, we want to rebound and limit them to one shot. The third part of our plan is to not foul. We want to play with our hands away. On offense, we’re going to attack and try to get some easy baskets. If we can’t do that, we’ll try to use clock and be smart with the basketball.
He continued, “We might have to play with five guards or we might have to play with four post players. It’s like the old saying ‘You don’t put the system before the structure. You put the structure before the system.’ ”
The new SRU coach hopes to have the Green and White competing for a PSAC title next winter.
“We’re going to try to win as many games as we can this season,” he said. “Our goal initially is to win the conference. Ultimately, that’s going to be our goal every season. With the addition of Mercyhurst and Gannon, it’ll make getting into the playoffs even more difficult.
“But, our immediate goal is to improve each day in practice and play as hard as we can. We have to set our sights high to obtain our goals. We want to get the word out that Slippery Rock wants to win a conference championship like we did back in the ‘80s. We need the returning players to improve during the offseason. We need those young men to have good summers and we have to get some new guys in here that enhance our chances at winning. We have to create a schedule that is conducive for success.”
Reynolds understands he is behind the eight-ball when it comes to recruiting, but still intends to bring some quality student athletes to The Rock.
“At this late date, it’s not the ideal time,” he said. “I think we can get some quality players to come to Slippery Rock. I hope to have them committed and signed to play for us next year within the next few weeks. I hope to use the relationships that I’ve had at the Division I level to get some Division I transfers or some high school kids that are fringe players. (Division I transfers) are very important in today’s game. It’s a critical aspect to have those kinds of guys.”
