Former NBA All-Star turned coach Reggie Theus was named to the dual role of Athletic Director and Head Men's Basketball Coach for Bethune-Cookman University on July 7, 2021, overseeing the Wildcats' vast athletic program. Theus is the only individual in all of Division I athletics to hold both roles.
In just under three years at the helm of B-CU Athletics, Theus has raised nearly 3.3 million dollars in support of the Wildcats. He has enjoyed historic success as both coach and administrator as he continues to cultivate a Championship Culture at Bethune-Cookman University.
The 2023-24 athletic term saw several accomplishments for Bethune-Cookman Athletics, including extending contracts, fundraising and development.
Theus was instrumental in helping Bethune-Cookman University continue a contract between the Wildcats and the Daytona Tortugas, making historic Jackie Robinson Ballpark home to B-CU Baseball for another 10 years. Included in the contract and amenities for Bethune-Cookman is a $30 million facility upgrade to the ballpark which features state-of-the-art LED lighting and player development facilities. This and much more is a reason B-CU is hopeful to bring the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Baseball Tournament to Daytona Beach in the not-too-distant future.
In terms of other off-campus “home” sites for the Wildcats, Sunnyland Park – home to Bethune-Cookman Softball, saw a major investment from the City of Daytona Beach for renovations across a three-year phase. The most current phase saw the addition of brand-new LED lighting, as well as dugout transformations and revamping of the batting cages. The outfield fence was completely restructured with new branding incorporating the history of the program and university alike.
Regarding fundraising, Bethune-Cookman was able to solicit two major gifts from two very well-known donors in the form of NBA Hall-of-Famer Charles Barkley and entrepreneur L. Gale Lemerand. In total, the gifts are worth more than $2.4 million for upgrades to athletic academic support and facility upgrades, including plans for the on-campus Lemerand Academic Multiplex (LAM).
In fall 2023, Bethune-Cookman unveiled a new practice football field on campus, allowing B-CU football to consistently practice on-campus for the first time in program history. The practice field includes a synthetic turf, in addition to a new locker room space with plans for further upgrades such as a laundry room, student-athlete recovery center, academic services, conference rooms, equipment storage, and an atrium space.
Since his arrival to Daytona Beach, Theus has overseen the renovation of several facilities within athletics, including locker rooms for both Men’s Basketball and Women’s Basketball, as well as the locker room for Volleyball. He has also worked to continue strong ties between the university, athletics, and the City of Daytona Beach, as a whole. These ties include the Daytona Beach Chief of Police and city mayor.,
Athletically, Bethune-Cookman Football returned to the city of Jacksonville, Florida, for a pair of successful games in conjunction with the Jacksonville Jaguars and City of Jacksonville Sports Commission to host Jackson State (2022) and Southern University (2023).
Theus has directly been involved with relaunching and the rebranding of the Wildcats Champions Club, successfully establishing the athletics fundraising entity as a unit to support philanthropic and unmet needs with more than $266,000 to date. In Miami-Dade alone, proceeds have yielded over $133,000.
When it comes to academics and B-CU Athletics, Wildcats student-athletes have maintained a graduation success rate of 89.1 percent, while the average team grade point average (GPA) sits at 3.1 per semester, respectively.
In just three seasons as head mens’ basketball coach, Theus has led the program through a historic foray into the Southwestern Athletic Conference. He led the Wildcats to their first ever SWAC postseason appearance in 2023, where they appeared as the #7 seed.
Theus followed up his first SWAC playoff appearance in 2023 with the program’s best season in over seven years with a 17-17 finish in 2024, capped off by its second-ever postseason appearance in program history, and first since 2011. The Wildcats were one of 16 teams selected to participate in the 2024 Ro College Basketball Invitational, becoming the first B-CU team to receive an invite to the event.
In the 2024 SWAC tournament, Theus’s Wildcats fell to eventual conference champion, Grambling State, in the semifinal round.
In August, 2022, Theus and the Wildcats announced the signing of four-star recruit Zion Harmon, the highest-ranked recruit in program history. The No. 1 recruit in the state of Kentucky was ranked 50th by ESPN, 58th by Rivals and 63rd by 24/7 sports. In addition to Western Kentucky, Harmon was also being recruited by Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Seton Hall, and Murray State, among others.
Theus joined the Wildcats Athletic Department after most recently serving as head coach of California State University Northridge. He was named head coach of the Matadors in 2013, where he coached until 2018. Theus led the Matadors to a Big West Conference Final in his first season with the program.
Prior to his time with the Matadors, Theus served as head coach of the South Bay Lakers of the NBA D-League for the 2012-13 season. Theus also spent time in the NBA coaching ranks as assistant coach with the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2009-2011, and as head coach of the Sacramento Kings for the 2007-08 season.
Prior to his time with Sacramento, Theus served as head coach of New Mexico State from 2005-07. In just his first season with the Aggies, Theus turned the program from a 6-24 squad in 2004-05 to a 16-14 team a season later. It was the fifth-best turnaround for a Division I men's basketball team at the time. One season later, Theus led NMSU to their 17th NCAA tournament, their first appearance since 1999, and 14th conference title.
Theus made his first foray into college coaching under Louisville head coach Rick Pitino, serving as an assistant for a Cardinals team that made a Final Four run in 2005.
Theus was drafted by the Chicago Bulls with the ninth overall pick in the 1978 NBA draft. The 6'7" point guard averaged 16.3 points per game as a rookie, finishing as runner-up for the 1979 NBA Rookie of the Year Award. He was named to the 1978-79 All-Rookie team. He finished second on the team in scoring behind future Hall-of-Famer Artis Gilmore.
One season later, Theus averaged 20.2 points and 6.3 assists.
Theus appeared in his first NBA All-Star Game in 1981, and later helped the Bulls to the 1981 NBA Playoffs. Those Bulls defeated the New York Knicks before falling to the future NBA champion Boston Celtics a round later.
In the 1982-83 season, Theus averaged a career high 23.8 points per game, leading the Bulls in scoring.
Theus was traded to the Kansas City/Sacramento Kings in 1984 after over five years in Chicago. With the Kings, he continued his impressive play, averaging 18.8 points and 8.1 assists in 346 games over four seasons. Theus helped lead the Kings to two playoff appearances in 1984 and 1985, while ranking fourth and fifth, respectively, in the NBA in assists.
In June, 1988, Theus was traded to the Atlanta Hawks, where he made another playoff appearance and a 52-win season.
In 1989, the NBA expansion draft saw Theus selected by the upstart Orlando Magic. Though the new franchise struggled, Theus continued his strong play, averaging over 18 points per game and over five assists.
The New Jersey Nets acquired Theus in June of 1990. He led the Nets in scoring with 18.6 points per game in the final season of his NBA career.
Perhaps most impressively for Theus, the latter years of his playing days were nearly identical to the peak of his NBA career. His final season average of 18.6 points per game was 2.3 points higher than rookie campaign that saw him finish second in Rookie of the Year voting. It was just under five points below his career-high of 23.8. He also capped off his NBA career with over a steal per game, nearly half a block per game - a career high - five assists per game, and a 47 percent shooting percentage.
During his NBA career, Theus scored 19,015 points, with 6,453 assists. The two-time all-star finished his career ranked 22nd all-time in career scoring and 11th in career assists. He currently ranks 63rd and 31st in career points and assists, respectively. At the time of his retirement, Theus was one of only five players to record over 19,000 points and over 6,000 assists. Theus is one of only two players in NBA history listed at 6'6" or taller to tally more than 750 assists in an NBA season (788 in 1985-86). The only other player to accomplish the feat is Hall-of-Famer Magic Johnson.
Theus played one final season of professional basketball in 1992 for Ranger Varese of Italy, where he led the league in assists and finished second in scoring.
Theus was announced as a nominee for the Basketball Hall of Fame in January, 2023.
Theus played college basketball at UNLV for head coach Jerry Tarkanian from 1976 to 1978. In three seasons with the Runnin' Rebels, Theus averaged 12.9 points, 4.4 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game. Theus, who became one of the best players to ever don a UNLV uniform, shot 81 percent from the free-throw line for his career while amassing 1,177 career points (21st on all-time scoring list), 401 career assists and 389 career rebounds in just 91 collegiate games.
In his sophomore season, Theus helped lead UNLV to the school's first ever Final Four appearance, falling to North Carolina by a single point. That UNLV team set NCAA single-season records for total points in a season, most 100-point games, and most consecutive 100-point games.
Theus was named a second-team All-American as a junior.
In 1989, Theus was inducted into the UNLV Athletic Hall of Fame. His No. 23 jersey was retired by UNLV in 1997, making him one of only eight players in program history to have their number retired.
In addition to his playing and coaching careers, Theus has worked as a college and NBA sports broadcaster in various markets, hosting talk shows in Sacramento, Orlando, and Atlanta. He served as an analyst and host for ESPN, Fox Sports, TNT, Sirius XM, PAC-12 Basketball and the Los Angeles Lakers,
Theus also provided commentary for the video game NBA Live 2002, and served as basketball consultant and analyst for the movie Like Mike.
Theus is married to Elaine. Together, the couple have three children - Raquel; Reggie; and Rhyan.
