Monmouth University head coach King Rice hires former Tar Heel Brian Reese as an assistant coach

When people think of Monmouth University basketball, it is hard to not immediately think of former Tar Heel and Hawks head coach King Rice. Now 10 years into his head coaching career, Rice has 161 victories under his belt, as well as three MAAC regular season titles and three MAAC Coach of the Year honors. He has done an impressive job so far in his career, and now he is bringing another Tar Heel into the fold.

Yesterday Rice announced that Brian Reese was joining his staff as an assistant coach. Reese played for the Tar Heels from 1990 to 1994, and was a member of the 1993 national championship team. During his college career, Reese averaged 8.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game. He would later go on to have a professional career overseas, completing stays in Austria, Belgium, the Dominican Republic, England, among other countries. He began his coaching career at High Point University in High Point, NC, and since then coached for Monmouth (assistant), Georgian Court (head coach), and Illinois State (assistant).

Here is what King Rice had to say about hiring Reese as his new assistant:

“I am extremely, extremely excited to bring Brian Reese onto our staff,” said Rice. “He’s one of the best at connecting with the players, he builds incredible relationships with every kid on the team. The knowledge he has of understanding young men and helping them grow to be men, Brian is one of the best at that. He goes above and beyond to make the kids feel special in our program. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to be the head coach here at Monmouth, and Brian was with us before and helped us build it to where we are now. I’m so excited to bring him back now so he can help us continue to build our program up and I can’t wait to work with him on our staff again.”

In the press release, Reese also got a chance to share how he felt about re-joining the Hawks:

“I’m so grateful to be back at Monmouth and to have this opportunity that Coach Rice has given me,” said Reese. “I’m really looking forward to getting to know the team and working with the staff. I am ready to do whatever Coach Rice needs in order to help this program continue to grow and be successful. I’m excited to once again be a Monmouth Hawk!”

There is a fair amount of talk about coaching trees in the college basketball world, and I think this is one of the cooler Carolina family tree hires. Having two former Tar Heels coaching for a team is something that would’ve made Dean Smith proud, and it almost certainly makes Roy Williams proud as well. It will be exciting to see how Reese does on Rice’s staff, and if both of them can help the Hawks get back to the NCAA Tournament.