By Alex Restrepo
LSU Sports Information
It was Nov. 7, 2007, and former LSU basketball player Jerry Reynolds was standing midcourt of the Pete Maravich Assembly Center talking with LSU Associate Athletic Director Bo Bahnsen. Reynolds is currently the Associate Head Basketball Coach for Webber International and was holding a practice for the Warriors at the PMAC. Bahnsen served as the team’s administrative assistant during Reynolds’ time as a Tiger from 1982 to 1985. Reynolds, a two-time All-SEC Selection, looked down at the newly resurfaced basketball court and couldn’t help but laugh.
“I like this new court you got,” Reynolds said. “It makes what we use to play on look like a tarp!”
It has been 22 years since Reynolds represented the purple and gold. After his days as a Tiger, the Brooklyn native had a successful career in the NBA and overseas. Now as a coach, Reynolds is teaching the traits he learned as a Tiger to his players.
Life as a Tiger
When Reynolds began the college recruiting process out of Alexander-Hamilton High School in Brooklyn, LSU was not in the picture.
The 6-8 swingman racked up a number of accolades in his prep career, including being named the 1981 New York City Player of the Year. He originally committed to Wisconsin. Wisconsin’s head coach at the time, Bill Cofield, wanted Reynolds to switch to point guard because he could handle the ball so well. Reynolds faced adversity before he ever took the court for the Badgers.
“I had to sit out my freshman year at Wisconsin due to academic reasons,” Reynolds said. “That year I sat out, the head coach left. I had a friend in Baton Rouge named Lester Roberts. He raised me as a young basketball player in New York. He was friends with (former LSU head coach) Dale Brown. He found out that I was not going to be attending Wisconsin and told Dale. They got in touch with me and brought me down for a visit.”
Once Reynolds met the coaches and toured the campus, the ?transition down South’ was easy for the Brooklyn native.
“The easy-going lifestyle and beauty of the campus are what I enjoyed most,” Reynolds reflected. “I had a great time as a student-athlete. Coming from New York City, not having been to Louisiana before, it was a great culture-shock experience. It was definitely for the better.”
Reynolds had a sensational freshman campaign by averaging 10.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. He was a defensive gem as he led the team in steals (65), and was second in blocks (24). Reynolds received Southeastern Conference All-Freshman honors.
Brown was highly impressed with Reynolds premiere, particularly with his vision.
“If you go strictly by statistics, Jerry Reynolds was the best freshman baskeball player in the SEC,” Brown said after the 1982-83 season. “He is a tremendous passer ? almost like a scan. He can see anybody out of the side of his eyes because he has great peripheral vision. He has greatness written across his forehead.”
Reynolds only improved during his time at LSU. He garnered All-SEC honors his sophomore season while leading the Tigers in scoring (14.2), rebounding (8.2) and steals (81).
Reynolds’ sensational sophomore season is what propelled him to start thinking about jumping to the NBA. After another strong season as a junior, Reynolds took the leap to the NBA. Even with the numbers he put up, some of Reynolds friends and even former coaches thought Reynolds wasn’t ready to go to the pros. Reynolds said people thought he was ?too skinny’ and didn’t have the ?body frame’ to make it in the NBA.
Any doubt was put to rest when Reynolds was taken with the 22nd pick in first round of the 1985 draft by the Milwaukee Bucks.
Making the Leap
He spent three years with the Bucks before heading to the Seattle Supersonics for a season. Reynolds then went on to play for one of the NBA’s two expansion teams, the Orlando Magic. Reynolds’ best years as a pro came during his three years with the Magic where he averaged more than 12 points a game from 1990 to 1992. The veteran’s successful run with the Magic came to a painful end in a game against the New York Knicks.
“I was going for a shot and Patrick Ewing tried to block it,” Reynolds said. “He fell on my head and crushed three discs in my neck. I had to have surgery and as a result I had to retire. I didn’t think I was going to play basketball again.”
After a few years, Reynolds got into the night club business in Orlando. Working countless hours at his club limited Reynolds’ time to work out. Reynolds kept up to date on what was going on in the NBA. Four years after he retired from the league, He wanted back in the game he ?lived for.’
“Not playing any basketball, my body still stayed the same,” he said. “I was watching basketball and my injury felt like it had never happened. One day I got out of the shower and I was looking in the mirror and I thought “I could still hang with these guys (NBA players.) I thought I would give it a shot.”
Reynolds wanted to be one of the few to be a two-time NBA player. Just like his first time entering the league, he faced opposition to the decision.
“My family was against it. They didn’t think I should try it anymore,” Reynolds explained. “I just felt strong. I guess I am a freak of nature because not many people could stay away form the game as long as I did and come back to play it at a high level. It was a great journey back.”
Reynolds comeback began in Atlanta where he played in the United States Basketball League. He moved on to Continental Basketball Association in Connecticut. Reynolds comeback was made official when the Milwaukee Bucks signed him after his CBA campaign when he was 36 years old.
Reynolds saw few minutes with the Bucks and left the NBA at the end of the 1996 season to play in Italy.
After a few years playing overseas, Reynolds decided to end his days as a player.
“After I was done playing, it took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do for a second career,” Reynolds commented. “The more I was out of basketball – I would still watch it all the time as a fan and student of the game.”
Reynolds said that knowledge was ?oozing out of my pores’ and wanted to put that knowledge to use. He had a mutual friend with Webber International Basketball Head Coach John Shoffner. Reynold’s friend had a nephew who was playing for Webber International at the time. Reynolds met with Shoffner and the Warriors leader decided to give the aspiring coach a shot.
“I felt I could be a good coach,” he said. “Webber was the first offer I got and I jumped on it. It has been great.”
Now in his third year with the Warriors, Reynolds was promoted from assistant coach to associate head coach.
No matter how far his career takes him, Reynolds says he always makes it a point to make time for his fellow Tigers.
“Whenever I come in town I always call guys like coach (Dale) Brown, Bo Bahnsen and Rudy Macklin because it is still a family at LSU.”