Reggie Witherspoon (basketball)

Last updated
Reggie Witherspoon
Reggie Witherspoon.jpg
Witherspoon at Alumni Arena in 2006
Biographical details
Born (1961-02-21) February 21, 1961 (age 63)
Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Alma mater Empire State College ('95)
Playing career
  Erie CC
  Wheeling Jesuit
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1984–1992 Sweet Home HS (assistant)
1992–1997Sweet Home HS
1997–1999 Erie CC
1999–2013 Buffalo
2014–2015 Alabama (assistant)
2015–2016 Chattanooga (assistant)
2016–2024 Canisius
Head coaching record
Overall306–358 (.461) 43–15 (.741) (NJCAA)
Tournaments1–1 (NIT)
0–2 (CBI)
3–3 (CIT)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
  • MAC regular season champion (2009)
  • MAAC regular season champion (2018)
Awards
  • MAC Coach of the Year (2004)

Phillip Reginald Witherspoon (born February 21, 1961) [1] is an American college basketball coach who is the former men's basketball head coach of the Canisius Golden Griffins and the Buffalo Bulls.

Contents

Witherspoon played college basketball at Erie Community College under John Beilein and then at Wheeling Jesuit under Jim O'Brien. [2]

He was the head coach at Erie Community College, and head coach and assistant coach at Sweet Home High School before he was hired as the interim head coach at Buffalo in December 1999. Witherspoon was named full-time head coach on March 10, 2000. He was the first African American named head coach of a varsity sports team in any Western New York suburban school district. He was fired after the 2012–13 season, finishing his 14 season run with a 198–228 record. [3] Witherspoon served one season as an assistant at Alabama under head coach Anthony Grant. [4] In 2015, Witherspoon was let go by Alabama when Grant was replaced by Avery Johnson. He was subsequently named as an assistant on Matt McCall's staff at UT-Chattanooga. [5]

In May 2016, Witherspoon was hired to replace the retiring Jim Baron at Canisius College. [6] In the 2017–18 season, the Golden Griffins finished tied for a share of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular-season title and qualified for the 2018 College Basketball Invitational.

On March 16, 2024, Canisius announced that it had parted ways with Witherspoon after eight seasons. [7]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
SeasonTeamOverallConferenceStandingPostseason
Erie Community College (NJCAA Region III)(1997–1999)
1997–98Erie CC 19–10
1998–99Erie CC 24–5
Erie CC:43–15 (.741)
University at Buffalo (Mid-American Conference)(1999–2013)
1999–00*Buffalo 3–20 (5–23)1–1712th
2000–01 Buffalo 4–242–1612th
2001–02 Buffalo 12–187–1110th
2002–03 Buffalo 5–232–1613th
2003–04 Buffalo 17–1211–75th
2004–05 Buffalo 23–1011–7T–2nd NIT First Round
2005–06 Buffalo 19–138–108th
2006–07 Buffalo 12–194–12T–10th
2007–08 Buffalo 10–203–1312th
2008–09 Buffalo 21–1211–5T–1st CBI First Round
2009–10 Buffalo 18–129–7T–3rd
2010–11 Buffalo 20–148–8T–5th CIT Quarterfinals
2011–12 Buffalo 20–1112–42nd CIT Second Round
2012–13 Buffalo 14–207–98th
Buffalo:198–228 (.465)96–142 (.403)
Canisius College (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)(2016–2024)
2016–17 Canisius 18–1610–10T–6th CIT First Round
2017–18 Canisius 21–1215–3T–1st CBI First Round
2018–19 Canisius 15–1711–7T–2nd
2019–20 Canisius 12–207–1310th
2020–21 Canisius 7–67–54th
2021–22 Canisius 11–217–13T–10th
2022–23 Canisius 10–208–12T–8th
2023–24 Canisius 14–188–129th
Canisius College:108–130 (.454)73–75 (.493)
Total:306–358 (.461)

      National champion        Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion        Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion      Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

[8]
* Hired as interim coach after Tim Cohane resigned after 5 games

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References

  1. ↑ "Phillip Reginald Witherspoon". FIBA. Archived from the original on July 3, 2015. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  2. ↑ Gaughan, Mark (May 28, 2016). "Reggie Witherspoon returns home to become Canisius basketball coach". Buffalo News . Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  3. ↑ "University of Buffalo fires coach". Daily Journal . March 16, 2013. p. 17. Retrieved December 4, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "Reggie Witherspoon Bio – ROLLTIDE.COM – University of Alabama Official Athletic Site". www.rolltide.com. Archived from the original on 2014-05-05.
  5. ↑ "McCall Announces 2015–16 Staff". GoMocs.com. University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. July 2, 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  6. ↑ "Canisius Hires Witherspoon". Ubbullrun.com. 28 May 2016.
  7. ↑ "Canisius Announces Men's Basketball Leadership Change". gogriffs.com. 16 March 2024.
  8. ↑ University at Buffalo Basketball – 2010–11 Information Guide


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