Roger Reid remains one of the most intriguing figures in Utah sports.
After the Utah Sports Hall of Fame inducted Reid into its illustrious group of legends this past week, here's my chance to pay homage to the honor and the man.
I will always remember Reid as a very passionate basketball coach, a guy with a competitive spirit that was legendary. His penchant for detail and his love of the game was respected. His drive was insatiable and he was as demanding of his players as any coach I’ve seen.
I liked him personally. He was always kind and gracious. He allowed reporters a courtside seat at practices, which was his private classroom and laboratory. There, he designed ways to beat far more talented teams, laden with more skilled athletes. He was a system coach and his system worked.
He also ran a clean program. Period.
Reid began coaching at Payson High after playing hoops for Dick Motta at Weber State and playing minor-league professional baseball. He coached at BYU, Snow College and SUU, as well as for the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and the Chinese Basketball Association's Hangzhou Horses.
We’ve got great high school and college coaches in this state. We’ve always had great ones. From Ladell Andersen to retiring Stew Morrill and from Dave Rose to Larry Kyrstkowiak, Utah has had outstanding coaches.
And two of the state's best tacticians of all time were Reid and Rick Majerus.
Majerus and Reid ended up being very close toward the end of their careers but as rivals, the desire to defeat one another was at critical mass. They put on clinics against one another and their head-to-head showdowns should be classic film studies for any aspiring young coach.
Their games were chess matches on steroids. Every possession was valuable. Both stressed defense. Both required precision screens and passes. Both worked the clock to shorten games. Both demanded high intensity and effort.
And both men were often misunderstood.
Reid and Majerus battled like civil war generals, one for the north, the other of the south, in their own realm. In the end, Reid ended up with a winning record against Majerus. I don’t know many coaches who could claim that of the late Utah legend.
Of getting the most out of his players, Reid has said: "Like me or dislike me as a player or athlete myself, I expected the best and worked hard. I never wanted to shortchange anybody. I wanted people to be at their best. Some people couldn't handle that, when you pushed them beyond their limits, to try and make them the best they could be . . . real men can . . . just like the players who write me and call me and say how much they got out of playing . . . those are the ones who are real winners because they took advantage of the experience, the opportunity, the chance to play."
Reid took over BYU’s basketball coaching job from Ladell Andersen after the 1989 season and was head coach for seven years. In that span, he established the winningest percentage of any BYU coach since 1922 — until Rose came along. Reid’s teams won three WAC titles and made it to the NCAAs five times.
There are many things that stood out about Reid’s BYU’s teams. I’ll single out just two — aside from seeing the enormous pain he endured with arthritic ankles and hips.
First, Reid found ways to get guys like Gary Trost, Steve Schreiner, Russell Larson, Kenneth Roberts and Mark Durrant layups. He did it over and over again against quicker and bigger opponents. Defenses seemed to freeze and watched as these guys made easy shots near the backboard. Stealing candy. It was an amazing and consistent trait of his scheme.
Second, Reid’s teams' conversion of buckets on out-of-bound plays was phenomenal and remarkable. Players would shuffle around, run to a spot, cross by a defender and somebody would end up with a lay-in or short banker. It was like clockwork. It made opponents look silly.
I liked Reid’s sons, Randy and Robbie, too. They were intense, just like their father. They were competitive and driven and confident. They were good people, kind and gracious and willing to accommodate when requested. Some people had issues that they played for their father, but I never did. Both were assets. They have been successful in everything they’ve done in life, and were outstanding students academically, which is a tribute to their parents, Roger and Diane.
These sons had manners and were loyal as Labradors.
Long since Reid retired from BYU, I’ve spoke to him many times, once after he witnessed the death of his older brother and best friend Duke Reid on State Street in Springville, the victim of an auto-pedestrian accident.
Reid and I had something in common as fathers — we both lost sons who were toddlers. Parents should never bury children — it goes against the order of things. We shared words on that as well over the years. If alive, our sons would be in their late 30s today.
On and off the court, Reid was a personality that was intriguing in so many ways. He grew up a talented baseball player who made money at the game. But it was basketball that became the ride that would define him personally and professionally.
I salute that he is in the Utah Sports Hall of Fame, to be honored for all time.
It’s a designation Reid earned and deserves.
Dick Harmon, Deseret News sports columnist, can be found on Twitter as Harmonwrites and can be contacted at dharmon@desnews.com.