Steve Smiley welcomes Colorado native Houston Reed to the Northern Colorado men’s basketball staff as an assistant coach. Reed comes to UNC from Chadron State in Nebraska where he was the head coach for the past four years.

“Coach Smiley is an elite and respected coach in our profession. Mostly he is a better person and carries himself with the utmost integrity,” Reed said. “To have the opportunity to bring my family to the UNC program and continue the success of winning, culture, and developing young men is a dream come true.”

While at Chadron Reed coached four All-RMAC players and in 2018-19 led the Eagles to their best season in program history at 12-16, including winning 10 RMAC games for the first time in seven years.

“It’s really special for me to announce the hiring of Coach Reed as a new member of our staff. He is not only a great coach, but he’s a lifelong friend of mine, my college teammate, and somebody that I’ve respected and valued for too many years to count,” Smiley said. “Coach Reed has had a fantastic career of his own, and he’s moved up the ranks of the basketball coaching world one stop at a time, always as a head coach. I’m humbled that Coach Reed has the faith in me to give up his position as a current head coach and to help us build the Bears for years to come. He will be a tremendous asset in all phases, including on the court, working with our post players specifically, in recruiting and ultimately in just helping me with all of his knowledge as a long-time head coach himself. Coach Reed is a born-and-raised Colorado guy, and he will take a tremendous amount of pride in continuing to build the tradition of UNC in his home state. The players, staff, and the Greeley community will love his energy and infectious attitude. I can’t wait for Houston, his wife Leah, and his children Olivia and Johnnie to join our UNC and Greeley community.”

Reed coached for 10 years at Otero Junior College in La Junta, Colorado before arriving at Chadron State. Over his final five years at Otero, the Rattlers won the NJCAA Region IX Tournament in 2012 and appeared in the title game in 2013. Reed was the Region IX Coach of the Year in 2012 and 16. The 2012 title gave OJC their first-ever NJCAA national tournament appearance where they advanced to the Elite Eight.

While at Otero, Reed coached 29 academic all-region and 12 academic All-American players. Four of his teams finished in the top-20 nationally for team grade point average. He placed 67 players to four-year institutions, including six to NCAA Division I schools in the past two years.

Prior to OJC, Reed was head boys’ basketball coach at Rocky Ford High School in Colorado, where he took a winless team to the Colorado 2A Sweet 16 in only two seasons.

As a player from 1998-2002, Reed first starred at OJC, where he holds the single-game scoring record (46) and currently sits 15th on the all-time scoring leader board. Following his graduation from Otero, he played for two seasons at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota under legendary coach Don Meyer who leads the NCAA in all-time wins.

A Colorado Native, Reed hails from Olathe, Colorado where he attended Olathe High School before becoming teammates with Coach Smiley at Northern State.

Joining Reed in Greeley are his wife Leah, daughter Olivia and son Johnnie.

https://uncbears.com/news/2020/3/24/mens-basketball-welcomes-houston-reed-as-assistant-coach.aspx