Updated July 2015
Reggie Witherspoon brings a wealth of experience to Matt McCall’s first staff coming on board in July 2015 after a year as assistant coach to Anthony Grant at Alabama. Witherspoon spent 14 seasons as the head coach at the University of Buffalo and enters this chapter of his career with nearly 30 years’ experience coaching basketball.
Witherspoon is best known for building the Buffalo program. He was a two-time Mid-American Conference (MAC) Coach of the Year pick (2004, 2012), while also earning 2004 CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Coach of the Year and NABC District Coach of the Year (2005, 2009). He went 196-236 over those 14 campaigns, but was 170-148 over the last 10.
His Bulls won 20 or more games four times with 19 two others. They shared the 2010 MAC East crown with Bowling Green and made four postseason appearances playing in the NIT (2005), CIT (2011, 2012) and CBI (2009). He coached two All-Americans with former Mocs assistant Turner Battle (2005) and Mitchell Watt (2012) both getting honorable mention. Battle garnered second team CoSIDA Academic All-American honors as well.
His squads included two MAC Players of the Year (Battle-2005/Watt-2012), one Freshman of the Year (Javon McCrea-2011) and one Sixth Man of the Year (Mark Bortz-2005). He produced 18 players who received All-MAC Mention.
Witherspoon’s work brought national attention from USA Basketball. He twice worked with the national under-18 team. First as a court coach in 2006 with a tryout squad that included Blake Griffin, Michael Beasley, Jared Bayless and Kyle Singler. He served as an assistant to Jeff Capel with the 2010 USA Under-18 squad that featured Kyrie Irving, Austin Rivers and Patric Young.
He came to UB as interim head coach in 1999 after a two-year run as head coach at Erie Community College where he went 43-15. He earned Western New York Athletic Conference Coach of Year both seasons producing four DI signees, two All-Americans and one Academic All-American. His 1999 squad went 24-5 winning the Region III title while nabbing Region III Division I Coach of the Year.
That followed a five-year stint as head coach at Sweet Home High School (1992-1997) where he got his coaching start as an assistant in 1984. His teams won four consecutive division titles which was the first, and to date, only time that happened in school history. He became the first African-American head coach of a varsity sports program in any Western New York Suburban School District.
Witherspoon earned an associate degree at Erie C.C., playing for current Michigan coach John Beilein. He graduated from Empire State College with a degree in interdisciplinary studies. He and his wife Dawn have two daughters, Lydia and Rachel.
