Former SGTC Lady Jets Assistant Coach Tomekia Reed offered four-year extension by Jackson State

Published 8:48 pm Monday, July 20, 2020

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From Staff Reports

 

JACKSON, MISS – Former South Georgia Technical College (SGTC) Lady Jets assistant women’s basketball coach and Georgia Southwestern State University standout player Tomekia Reed has been offered a four-year contract extension as the head women’s basketball coach at Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi.

“I am extremely thankful and honored that President Thomas Hudson and Vice President and Director of Athletics Ashley Robinson saw fit for me to remain at the helm of the JSU women’s basketball program,” said Reed. “I am thankful for AD Robinson’s commitment to our program and we will have several more outstanding seasons to come.”

Reed led the Lady Tigers to the 2019 – 2020 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Regular Season Championship and qualified as the No. 1 seed in the 2020 SWAC Tournament before the COVID-19 Pandemic caused the cancellation of postseason play. The 2019 – 2020 JSU women’s basketball season will go down in program history as one of the most dominate. The Lady Tigers opened conference play with a 12 – 0 start, which was a program best. The Blue and White finished conference play with a 16 – 2 mark, which ties the program record.

Reed began her coaching career as an SGTC assistant coach and recruiter from 2004 – 2006 under former head coach Brandon Harrell.  She also played for the Georgia Southwestern Lady Hurricanes and was named MVP in 2003.

Reed moved to Jackson State as the head coach in 2018 following a successful three-year stint as head coach at Hinds Community College. During her time at HCC, the Lady Eagles won a combined 47 games, including consecutive winning seasons in 2016-17 and 2017-18. Reed led HCC to the NJCAA Region 23 title game in 2017.

“Coach Reed has done a tremendous job and has elevated the program in her two short years on the job,” said Jackson State AD Ashley Robinson. “She led the JSU program to it first SWAC regular-season championship in 10 years and has set the foundation for continued success. Coach Reed and her staff have done a great job recruiting and I expect her to continue to raise the bar.”

A native of Jackson, Miss., Reed was JSU’s women’s basketball recruiting coordinator from 2006-2009. While there, she served as the top assistant and also worked with post players at JSU and served as the team’s academic liaison. Other responsibilities included strength and conditioning liaison, player development, community service coordinator and summer basketball camp coordinator.

During that time, the Lady Tigers claimed the SWAC regular season championship and made a WNIT appearance in 2006-07. The 2007-08 JSU squad captured the SWAC Tournament championship and made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Reed also had assistant coach stops at Southern Miss, Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Lafayette, and New Orleans, serving as recruiting coordinator at each school during her respective stints. She has assisted in bringing several high-ranking recruiting classes, including the 2014 class at Louisiana Tech, which garnered a national Top 50 ranking and was the second-highest ranked class in Conference USA.

At Southern Miss, Reed also assisted in signing the 42nd-ranked recruiting class in the country (No. 4 among non-AQ programs) in 2010 and the No. 1 ranked recruiting classes in the state of Mississippi in both 2010 and 2011.

Reed began her collegiate playing career at Southern Miss, helping lead the program to a WNIT appearance before transferring to Hinds CC for the 2000-2001 season.

It was at HCC that Reed led the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) in rebounds per game and was also second in the conference in scoring. She was chosen as an All-State first team selection.

Reed transferred to Georgia Southwestern State University after her time at Hinds, where she led the team in scoring (finishing second in the conference) and earned the team’s most valuable player award.

She earned an associate’s degree in sports medicine from Hinds in 2001 and a bachelor’s in exercise science from Georgia Southwestern in 2003.

Reed began her coaching career at SGTC and was the assistant coach for head coach Brandon Harrell when the Lady Jets women’s basketball program was initiated in 2004. She spent the 2004 – 2005 and the 2005 – 2006 seasons as the number two coach for the Lady Jets.

Reed and Harrell struggled that initial year as the Lady Jets finished 8 – 23 overall. However, they finished third in the Conference. They also had three players off that first team to earn All-Conference or All-Tournament honors. They came back in 2005 – 2006 and put together a 17 – 15 record.