25th Anniversary Profile: Arizona Reid
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – As part of the Big South Conference’s 25th Anniversary celebration in 2008-09, which is presented by Royal Purple, the Conference is profiling each week the Top 25 “Best of the Best” moments in League history. This week’s feature is former High Point men’s basketball sensation Arizona Reid.
A video vignette of Reid’s impressive career can be viewed on the Big South’s website, www.BigSouthSports.com, under the 25th Anniversary Media Center banner. In addition, video vignettes around all the Top 25 “Best of the Best” moments are available for viewing online.
Gaffney, S.C., native Arizona Reid entered High Point University as a freshman in 2004-05, and brought with him some solid credentials from his prep days, including Street & Smith’s Honorable Mention All-America honors after leading Gaffney High School to back-to-back South Carolina Class 4A state championships. And while he was expected to contribute his first year with the Panthers, he immediately faced his first obstacle – nine returning upperclassmen, including five seniors, as well as five players who played his forward position.
His freshman year can be described as a tale of two seasons. He played in 28 games overall with starts in eight of the final nine contests. In his first 19 games, Reid played an average of just 8.8 minutes, and contributed 2.6 points and 2.5 rebounds a game. His big break came on Feb. 8 at home against Winthrop when head coach Bart Lundy inserted him in the starting lineup for the first time, and from that point on, Reid averaged 8.4 points and 6.7 rebounds in the final nine games of his freshman campaign. He scored in double figures four times during the span, including a season-high 14 against Charleston Southern on Feb. 14. He also recorded three double-digit rebound games upon entering the starting lineup, and on Feb. 23 against Radford, Reid scored 10 points, pulled down a season-best 13 rebounds and contributed six assists. His efforts down the stretch earned him a spot on the Big South’s 2004-05 All-Freshman Team. He also began a string of consecutive starts on Feb. 26, 2005, which reached 95 by the end of his career.
Reid exploded onto the scene in his sophomore season of 2005-06. He started all 29 games for High Point and averaged 18.3 points and 8.9 rebounds in his first full season of playing time. In the team’s fifth game of the year, which was at national power Kentucky, Reid posted career-highs of 29 points and 16 rebounds against the Wildcats – one of his League-leading seven 20-point, 10-rebound performances of the season. He also recorded a Big South-best 11 double-doubles, and ranked among the Big South leaders in several categories, including scoring (4th), rebounding (2nd), field goal percentage (7th), free throw percentage (14th), steals (10th), offensive rebounds (2nd) and defensive rebounds (1st). Reid also reached double-figures in 27 games, including 13 games over 20 points, and was voted First-Team All-Conference.
Entering his junior year in 2006-07, Reid was tabbed a preseason All-Big South selection and was fast approaching the Big South’s 1,000-point and 500-rebound clubs. If the 2005-06 season was his breakout year, then his junior season of 2006-07 can be classified as his national coming out party. Against No. 3 North Carolina on Dec. 9, Reid scored 26 points and had eight rebounds. He added 17 points at Florida State on Dec. 18. During the season, he scored 30 points in a game five times, in addition to 13 double-doubles. Reid became the first player in Big South history to average 20.0 points and 9.0 rebounds in one season, as he finished the year with 21.0 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. In fact, Reid and Texas freshman Kevin Durant were the only players in the nation to accomplish this feat in 2006-07. Reid topped the Big South in rebounding and was second in scoring. In Conference games, he averaged 26.0 points and 10.9 rebounds and posted nine games with 20-points and 10-rebounds. He ranked 13th in the nation in scoring and 19th in rebounding. Reid concluded the 2006-07 regular-season in memorable fashion, as he scored 32 points and pulled down a Big South single-game record 25 rebounds in a victory against VMI on Feb. 24.
Reid’s play helped the Panthers to their first 20-win season (22 wins) in the program’s Division I history, and he was voted the Big South’s Player of the Year in 2006-07. He also netted several milestones his junior season – his 500th career rebound on Jan. 10; his 1,000th point on Jan. 17 -- which made him just the 27th player in Big South history with both 1,000 points and 500 rebounds. Exactly one month after grabbing his 500th rebound, Reid passed 600 career boards. National outlets took notice of Reid’s season, as he was named an Honorable Mention All-American by the Associated Press and All-District by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA).
Officially on everyone’s radar his senior year, the player who averaged 14.9 minutes, 4.5 points and 3.9 rebounds as a freshman was the Big South’s Preseason Player of the Year in 2007-08, as well as a preseason Mid-Major All-American by Collegeinsider.com and Collegehoops.net. Reid was the main reason why High Point was voted the League’s preseason favorite – its first-ever preseason No. 1 ranking in the Big South’s annual poll. He entered his senior campaign No. 33 all-time in Big South history with 1,327 career points and No. 21 all-time with 671 career rebounds. Reid needed to average 22.4 points to reach the coveted 2,000-point club, as well as 9.43 rebounds to break the Big South’s career rebounding record.
As he did every year at High Point, Reid improved is output from the year before, and he finished the season second in the Big South in scoring (23.9 points) while leading again in rebounds (11.0). Reid and Kansas State freshman Michael Beasley were the lone players in the nation to average at least 23.0 points and 11.0 rebounds, and Reid was the first player in Big South history to average 20.0 points and 10.0 rebounds in the same season. He ranked sixth nationally in scoring and rebounding, was tops in the Conference with 20 double-doubles, scored in double-figures in every game, and posted 14 games with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Reid broke the Big South’s career rebounding record on Feb. 18, 2008 against Coastal Carolina. With his third rebound of the night at the 14:59 mark of the first half, Reid corralled his 955th career rebound, breaking Joe Spinks’ 14-year League record of 954. On March 1, Reid scored a career-high 42 points against VMI and in the process became the fifth player in Big South history to score 2,000 career points. And in High Point’s Big South Tournament quarterfinal game against Coastal Carolina on March 4, Reid reached 1,000 career rebounds, becoming the first player in Big South annals and the 97th player in NCAA Division I history with 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.
Reid garnered his second consecutive Big South Player of the Year honor in 2007-08 – the League’s first back-to-back winner in 10 seasons and just the fourth multiple winner of the award. He was again named an Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American and was also recognized as an All-District honoree by the NABC. Reid set a League record with 342 rebounds in 2007-08 and is the only player in Big South history with two 300-rebound seasons.
His brilliant collegiate career came to an end in the Big South Tournament Semifinals on March 6. He finished with 2,069 career points (fourth in Big South history) and a League-record 1,013 rebounds. Even more impressive is that Reid surpassed 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in regular-season CONFERENCE GAMES during his career despite his limited action during his freshman season. In 60 career regular-season League games, Reid scored 1,062 points and grabbed 546 rebounds – an average of 17.7 points and 9.1 rebounds. However, since his sophomore season, Reid averaged 21.9 points and 10.7 boards in Big South games.
Reid departed the Big South ranked among the top 10 career leaders in field goals (2nd – 864), field goals per game (8th – 7.20), rebounds per game (6th – 8.44) and games played (T-9th – 120). Reid concluded his career scoring in double figures in his final 50 games – 36 of which were 20-point outings (72 percent). His 46 career double-doubles were 3rd nationally among active players in 2007-08. He is currently playing professionally in Switzerland for the Geneva Devils, and is averaging 13.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.
Arizona Reid is one of the Top 25 “Best of the Best” moments in League history. The Conference is conducting an online fan poll to help determine the Top Moment in the first 25 years of the Big South Conference. Voting is open on www.BigSouthSports.com and continues through March 25. Fan voting will be combined with the 25th Anniversary Committee’s votes to come up with the official rank order of the “Best of the Best” moments. The countdown will be unveiled at the concluding 25th Anniversary banquet in May.
(Portions of this profile provided by High Point’s Sports Information Office).
Next week’s featured “Best of the Best” moment and vignette: Coastal Carolina’s Baseball Dynasty Since 2001.