Former Georgia Tech basketball player Willie Reese spent five years as director of operations for the Tech basketball program following six seasons as an assistant coach for the Yellow Jackets. Reese was responsible for team travel and numerous other administrative duties for the basketball program.
As a coach, Reese was instrumental in the development of center Luke Schenscher, who came from Australia in 2001 as a raw, skinny 214-pounder and progressed into one of the nation’s most reliable pivotmen, and was a key factor in recruiting the players that have brought the Yellow Jackets’ program back to national prominence.
Before returning to Georgia Tech to join Bobby Cremins’ staff for the 1999-2000 season, Reese spent the previous five years as the head coach at Landmark Christian Academy, compiling an 87-35 record and a .713 winning percentage at the Atlanta private school.
Under Reese’s direction, Landmark Christian improved from a 3-18 record during his first season in 1994-95, when he became just the second coach in the school[apos]s history, to a 24-3 mark and the subregion championship in his second year. After that first season, Reese won nearly 79 percent of his games, compiling a four-year mark of 84-23. Two of Reese[apos]s players earned Division I scholarships in Greg Clark, who signed with Chattanooga, and Leigh Gayden, a member of the 1999 Atlanta Journal-Constitution [quote]Terrific Ten[quote] who signed with Tennessee Tech.
Also the cross country coach at Landmark Christian, Reese guided his squad to state titles in 1995 and 1996. He was named the region and state Coach of the Year for cross country in 1996 by the Georgia Athletic Coaches[apos] Association as well as the Atlanta Track Club[apos]s cross country Coach of the Year in 1995 and 1996.
Reese was recruited to the Tech program by Cremins in 1984 and was redshirted during the Rambling Wreck[apos]s 1984-85 Atlantic Coast Conference championship season. He went on to earn four letters as a frontcourt reserve from the 1985-86 through 1988-89 seasons, helping the Jackets compile a four-year record of 85-42 while earning four trips to the NCAA Tournament. During his career, Reese played with many of the great names in Tech annals, including Mark Price, John Salley, Bruce Dalrymple, Duane Ferrell, Tom Hammonds and Dennis Scott.
Named the basketball team[apos]s outstanding scholar-athlete his junior and senior years, Reese, 44, earned a bachelor[apos]s degree in Industrial Management from Georgia Tech in 1989. After graduation, he spent five years in private business before beginning his coaching career in 1994.
Reese, who attended Carver High School in Atlanta, and his wife, Subrina, reside in Jonesboro and have a son, Willie, and a daughter, Jasmine.
REESE FILEFull Name: Willie Rayford ReeseBorn: December 6, 1966Hometown: Atlanta, Ga.Education: Carver, H.S, Atlanta, Ga., 1984; Georgia Tech, B.S. in Industrial Management, 1989Playing Experience: Four-year letterman at Georgia Tech (1986-89)Coaching Experience: Landmark Christian Academy, head coach (1995-99); Georgia Tech, assistant coach (1999-2006) Director of Operations, Georgia Tech (2006-11)Joined Tech Staff: May 17, 1999Left Tech Staff: March 25, 2011
