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Jeff Reynolds |
Jeff Reynolds, an assistant coach for the Air Force Academy men's basketball team the past two years, has been named head coach of the Falcons, athletic director Dr. Hans Mueh announced on April 17, 2007.
Reynolds, the seventh head coach in program history and the fourth in the last five years, agreed a five-year contract. Terms of the contract were not disclosed. He succeeds Jeff Bzdelik, who resigned on April 3 to become head coach at the University of Colorado.
"Jeff Reynolds has a distinguished record as an assistant and head coach and has been honored at every level," said Mueh. "He has had great success as a coach at eight different Division I and II programs before coming to Air Force at Coach Bzdelik's request and was a key factor in Air Force's success as his top assistant coach."
During his two seasons as an assistant, Reynolds helped guide Air Force to its two most successful campaigns on the basketball court. In 2005-06, the Falcons were 24-7, the best record in program history, and played in the NCAA Tournament for just the fourth time ever. In '06-07, Air Force posted a 26-9 record, setting a new school record for most victories in one season, and advanced to the semifinals of the NIT. Air Force was just one of 17 Division I teams to win at least 50 games the last two seasons.
"I want to thank the administration for thinking enough of me to allow me to direct this basketball program," said Reynolds. "My job here is to sustain the success of the program and take it to the next level. Directing this basketball program is a once in a lifetime opportunity."
Reynolds, 50, came to the Academy after serving as an assistant coach at Tulane for five seasons. Prior to his stint at Tulane, Reynolds served as the head coach at Division II Wingate University in Wingate, N.C.
He coached Wingate for three seasons, building the program into a Division II powerhouse. In 1999-2000, his team led the nation in scoring defense and posted an impressive 26-4 record, closing the year with a final national ranking of No. 7 and a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs also won their second-consecutive South Atlantic Conference title and established the longest home-court winning streak at the Division II level (26 games).
In 1998-99, Reynolds guided Wingate to its first NCAA Tournament bid, as well as its first national ranking, and the Bulldogs closed that season with a 23-6 mark as Reynolds earned South Atlantic Conference Coach of the Year honors.
As the top assistant coach at his alma mater, UNC-Greensboro, from 1995-97, Reynolds helped the program to the 1996 Big South Championship and a bid to the 1996 NCAA Tournament. Prior to that, he served for four years as the top assistant at UNC-Wilmington, helping the Seahawks to Colonial Athletic Association Most Improved Team honors in 1992.
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Ardie McInelly |
Head coach Ardie McInelly enters her seventh season at the helm of the Air Force women's basketball program. Since McInelly's arrival at the Academy, the Falcons have shown major improvement. In her first six years she has become Air Force's winningest coach at the Division I level.
Six individuals--Amoy Jackson (twice), LaToya Howell, Shawna Neff, Letricia Castillo, Lauren Henderson and Alecia Steele (three times)--have received all-conference honors under McInelly's tutelage.
McInelly guided the team to a 6-23 overall record last year. The Falcons saved their best basketball for late in the season, earning their first Mountain West Conference Tournament win by defeating Colorado State in the opening round.
Leading the way for Air Force was junior Alecia Steele, a third-team all-Mountain West Conference performer for the second-consecutive season. Steele led the Falcons in scoring and rebounding for the third-straight season and enters 2007-08 needing just 63 points to reach the 1,000 plateau. Speaking of 1,000 points, senior Letricia Castillo capped-off a stellar four-year career by eclipsing the grand mark, leaving the Academy ranked eighth all-time in scoring with 1,073 career points. Junior Pamela Findlay also set a new Falcon standard at the three-throw line, sinking a school record 89.7 percent of her three throws.
The Falcons enjoyed their finest season as a Division I program in 2005-06, as McInelly helped lead the team to a 13-15 overall record, marking the Falcons' highest win total since the team moved to Division I in 1996. The Falcons' impressive turnaround on 2005-06 came just two years after compiling a 3-25 mark and a 7-21 ledger in 2004-05. In addition to posting its best win total at the Division I level, the 2005-06 Air Force team also swept a pair of Mountain West Conference teams (Colorado State and San Diego State) for the first time ever, while recording a 9-2 non-conference mark. This vast improvement was accomplished with a young roster, which boasted 12 freshmen and sophomores and not a single senior.
The Falcons lose three starters and a key senior reserve off of last year's team, but the two starters that return, Findlay and Steele, provide McInelly with a solid senior core to build around. A young and rapidly-progressing returning core and a freshmen class that enters the Academy with stellar high school credentials gives McInelly a promising team that should continue to improve as the season progresses.
McInelly's success in building a winning program is well-documented. She came to Air Force in 2001 after spending five years as the head coach of Idaho State University, where she helped transform the Bengals from a struggling program to one that is respected and successful. When she first arrived at Idaho State in 1996, the team had just completed an 8-18 season and had only put together two winning seasons in the 17 previous years.
In each of her first two seasons at ISU, the team compiled records of 15-12. She took the team to the Big Sky Tournament four out of her five years, finishing third or higher in the conference in each of those four seasons.
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