May 5, 2016
THE FLATS – Eric Reveno, who recently completed a 10-year run as the head coach at the University of Portland, has been named to Josh Pastner’s men’s basketball staff at Georgia Tech as assistant coach.
Reveno spent 10 years spearheading a rebuilding effort at Portland in which the Pilots played in four CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) during his tenure and had a three-year span where the Pilots averaged 20 wins from 2008-10. Reveno was named the WCC Coach of the Year in 2009 after leading Portland to back-to-back third-place finishes in the league standings. The Pilots also were one of the best three-point shooting teams in the nation during Reveno’s term.
“Eric is known as one of the great developers of big men in the country and a great addition to our staff,” said Pastner. “He worked at Pete Newell’s Big Man Camp for seven years, and he was on the staff at Stanford during a time when they recruited and developed a number of tremendous big men and were highly successful. He’s got a tremendous IQ for the game of basketball and a high level of character.”
Twenty Pilots were named to All-WCC teams since 2007, including eight first-team selections, and 16 of the program’s graduates since 2009 have gone on to play professionally. Reveno finished with a 140-178 overall record, including a 60-95 mark in West Coast Conference games.
Off the court, the Pilots had 16 WCC All-Academic Team selections under Reveno. The team boasted a 100 percent graduation rate, a near-perfect rating in the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate, and 20 Academic All-WCC selections since 2007.
“I am very excited and grateful to be joining Josh Pastner’s staff at Georgia Tech,” said Reveno. “I have known Coach Pastner since he was a player at Arizona, and he has impressed at every stage of his career. His commitment and passion for helping each student-athlete become the best he can be and building a championship team is infectious. To be able to join him, at one of the nation’s top academic institutions, competing in the best league in college basketball, is an opportunity of a lifetime.”
Voted one of the Top 25 Recruiters in the nation by rivals.com in 2006, Reveno has a track record of player development, and respects the role of the student-athlete. He built the foundation for future success through quality recruiting and an emphasis on development, both on the court and in the weight room.
Long recognized as a leader in the use of sports performance analysis technology, Reveno spoke in Sydney, Australia during the fall of 2008 at a worldwide summit hosted by SportsTec, one of the foremost providers of video and technology solutions to the international sports community. The cutting edge approach to technology became a staple of the Pilot program in teaching, player development and recruiting. As a result, Reveno was the lone representative from the United States asked to speak to an audience of performance professionals from some of the top sports leagues and organizations in the world. Dave Telep, ESPN.com Senior Recruiting Analyst, said that, “Reveno is unofficially the most technologically advanced man we’ve met in college basketball. His new I-Phone is wired up to the point where he’s got his recruiting database, clips of his offense, directions to gyms in Vegas AND his favorite Johnny Cash songs all in one.”
An imposing 6-foot, 8-inch figure, Reveno developed a passion for a disciplined style of play reminiscent of his formative coaching years as an assistant under legendary coach Mike Montgomery at Stanford. He also points to the coaching philosophies of Tom Davis, the man who recruited and coached him at Stanford his first two years, and legendary coach Pete Newell as major influences on his coaching style. Reveno served as an assistant coach under Montgomery at Stanford for seven years before being promoted to associate head coach during the 2004-05 season alongside Trent Johnson.
A post player for the Cardinal in the late ‘80s under both Davis and Montgomery, Reveno helped coach his alma mater to seven 20-win seasons, three 30-win seasons, eight NCAA Tournament appearances, an NCAA Final Four in 1998, three years with a No. 1 national ranking, four Pacific-10 Conference Championships and a .768 overall winning percentage. He played in 116 games during his career at Stanford (1985-87, 89), including 30 games as a starter during his senior season in 1988-89. He was a two-time team captain and most inspirational player and averaged 9.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per game as a senior, helping the Cardinal to a 26-7 record, a 15-3 mark in the Pac-10, and a No. 12 national ranking. The Cardinal advanced to the NCAA Tournament, Stanford’s first appearance in the tourney since the 1942 season.
Reveno recruited and coached numerous outstanding frontline players for the Cardinal including Mark Madsen, Jarron Collins, Jason Collins, Curtis Borchardt, Tim Young, Rob Little, Justin Davis and Matt Haryasz. He was also a prominent staff member at the nationally renowned Pete Newell Big Man Camp from 1998-2004. Seven players under Reveno’s tutelage at Stanford went on to play in the NBA.
After graduating from Stanford in 1989 with a degree in economics, he spent four years playing professional basketball in Japan. He returned to Stanford and obtained his masters degree in business administration in 1995. Prior to joining the Stanford coaching staff in 1997, he served as president for two years of Riekes Center in Menlo Park, a non-profit mentoring organization that works with athletes of all ages.
Reveno was born in Stanford, Calif. on March 12, 1966 and attended The Menlo School during his high school years. He and his wife, Amanda, have two children: Katie (13) and Andrew (10).
