Jim Reynolds (sitting) was an assistant coach to David Thomas at Pusch Ridge two years ago (Andy Morales/AllSportsTucson.com)
It has been confirmed to AllSportsTucson.com that legendary coach Jim Reynolds will be the new basketball coach at Salpointe.
“Excited to coach again and especially at at Salpointe,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds is a Hall of Fame coach from Cincinnati where he retired from coaching Madeira High School after 25 years. He had 22 straight winning seasons, he won 11 Cincinnati Hills League titles, 10 sectional titles and six district titles. He was named the Coach of the Decade for the 1990s.
His son, Ryan Reynolds, is the Director of basketball Operations at the University of Arizona and has been on the Arizona staff since 2010.
“Madeira was phasing out physical education classes so I was basically out of a job after 25 years,” Reynolds told AllSportsTucson.com in January of 2016. “We have a daughter in California and a son here so it was always in the back of our minds that we would one day move out west so we decided to give it a try.”
Reynolds teaches physical education at Wilson K-8 in the Amphitheater School District where former UCLA standout and University of Arizona women’s head coach Judi LeWinter is an assistant principal.
More recently, Reynolds served as an assistant coach to former Pusch Ridge head coach David Thomas a couple of years ago.
Reynolds was one of several “secret weapons” disguised as assistant coaches who made quiet but important contributions in the last few years. Legendary Sunnyside head coach Dwight Rees sat beside former Blue Devil head coach Rob Harrison a couple of years ago. His presence on the bench went mostly unnoticed.
Former Wildcat and current NBA standout Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was a volunteer assistant at Cienega three years ago while former Arizona standout and current Phoenix Mercury coach Julie Brase sat unnoticed on the Catalina Foothills bench.
Finally, former Wildcat Reggie Geary went almost totally unnoticed when he sat on the Salpointe bench a few years earlier.
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Andy Morales was recognized by the AIA as the top high school reporter in 2014 and has been a youth, high school and college coach for over 30 years. His own children have won multiple state high school championships and were named to all-state teams. Competing in hockey, basketball, baseball and track & field in high school, his unique perspective can only be found here and on AZPreps365.com. Andy was named a Local Hero by the Tucson Weekly for 2016. Contact Andy Morales at AMoralesMyTucson@yahoo.com
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