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 Coaching Corner

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Jeff Reynolds, Head Coach

Coach Reynolds was born: Sept. 7, 1956 Hometown: Mountain City, Tenn.

Personal: Married, wife Janet. Playing experience:

Surry Community College (1974-76); University of North Carolina-Greensboro (1976-78)

 

Coaching experience:

James Madison University, assistant coach (1981-82); Randolph-Macon College, assistant coach (1982-85); North Carolina Wesleyan, head coach (1985-86); Winthrop College, assistant coach (1986-90); UNC-Wilmington, assistant coach (1990-94); UNCGreensboro, assistant coach (1995-97); Wingate College, head coach (1997-2000); Tulane, assistant coach (2000-2004); Air Force, assistant coach (2005-2007)

 

Career highlights:

- In only season at North Carolina Wesleyan, he guided the program to  the Dixie Conference championship.

- He helped Winthrop transition from Division II to Division I and win the 1988 Big South    Conference championship

- He helped guide UNC-Greensboro to the 1996 Big South Championship and an NCAA Tournament bid.

- Named South Atlantic Conference Coach of the Year in 1998-99 after leading Division II Wingate to the conference title, its first NCAA Tournament bid and first national ranking.

- Guided Wingate to second straight conference title in 1999-2000.

 

During his two seasons as an assistant at Air Force, Reynolds helped guide the Falcons 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.

 

From his time at Tulane prior to becoming an assistant at Air Force: (BIO while at Tulane)

 

Entering his fourth year at Tulane (from archives), Jeff Reynolds has been involved in all aspects of coaching and managing a basketball team in his career, which includes four years as a head coach and 16 as an assistant. Most recently, Reynolds served as the head coach at Wingate University in Wingate, N.C.

 

"This is a very unique opportunity for me to work with Shawn at such a fine academic institution," Reynolds said. "It's an exciting time to be a part of Tulane basketball."

 

Reynolds 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. 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; the Bulldogs closed that season with a 23-6 mark and 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.

 

Reynolds began his coaching career at James Madison University in 1981, serving as a part-time assistant for a team which won 24 games and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 1982. He went on to Division II power Randolph-Macon College, which reeled off three straight NCAA Tournament appearances and earned a No. 4 national ranking in the final poll of 1984.

 

He logged one year as the head coach of North Carolina Wesleyan College in 1985-86, leading his program to a 21-7 mark and the Dixie Conference Championship, before moving on to Winthrop College for four years. At Winthrop, he was directly involved in the team's transition from Division II to Division I, and, in 1988, the school captured the Big South Conference Championship

 

Assistant Coaches

foafbmtgmay07piliop.JPG Dave Pilipovich - Assistant Coach

Dave Pilipovich (pronounced pill-ih-POE-vitch) brings 20 years of coaching experience to the Academy. During the 2005-06 season, he served as the administrative assistant to then-Michigan head coach Tommy Amaker, then was an assistant coach during the '06-07 campaign.

He served as an assistant coach at Eastern Michigan University for five years (2000-05) prior to joining the Michigan staff. Before his stint at EMU, he served four years as an assistant coach at Robert Morris University (1996-2000), two years an assistant coach at Georgia State University (1994-96) and two years as the assistant head coach at Florida Atlantic University (1989-91) before being named associate head coach the following four years (1991-94).

Pilipovich, 43, began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at California University (Pa.) for two years (1986-88), before being named as an assistant coach for one season (1988-89).

A 1986 graduate of Theil College in Greenville, Pa., with a business administration degree, Pilipovich earned four varsity basketball letters and served as team captain during his senior season. He earned his masters from California (Pa.) in 1988 in geography and regional planning. He is an active member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and serves on the NABC Assistant Coaches Committee.

Pilipovich and his wife, Kelly, have a son, Kyle, and a daughter, Kelsey.

snellphoto.jpeg Steve Snell - Assistant Coach

Coach Snell served as an assistant coach at Louisiana-Monroe for the past two seasons, while Carroll was an assistant at Division II Alabama-Huntsville last season.   A 17-year coaching veteran, Snell helped the Warhawks to the co-championship of the Sun Belt's West Division in 2006-07 with an 18-14 record, including a perfect 14-0 mark at home. Prior to coaching at ULM, Snell was at Tulane University, where he and Reynolds served as assistant coaches. During his four-year tenure with the Green Wave, Snell assisted in all aspects of the program.

A native of Radford, Va., he served as an assistant coach at Marshall University for five seasons under head coach Greg White prior to his tenure at Tulane.

In his five years at Marshall, Snell helped the Herd to an 86-54 (.614) record. In that time, he played a vital role in recruiting such standout players as Tamar Slay, J.R. VanHoose, Travis Young, Joda Burgess and Cornelius Jackson. The Herd's 1998 recruiting class was ranked by ESPN as the best in the Mid-American Conference. Slay was selected in the second round of the 2002 NBA Draft by the New Jersey Nets.

Prior to his move to Marshall, Snell spent three years as an assistant coach at East Tennessee State University. He served the 1992-93 campaign at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and also spent two years at Wingate College and one season at Radford University. Before that, Snell was an assistant coach at Radford High School during the 1988-89 campaign.

 Snell, 43, earned a bachelor's degree in recreation management from Radford University in 1988. He is married to the former Ann Barnitz. The couple has two sons, Jaden (4) and Jordan (3).

 

  

coachespryor.JPG Rob Pryor - Assistant Coach

Pryor, 32, returns to the Air Force staff after helping Siena to a 20-12 record and an appearance in the championship game of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament. He served under head coach Fran McCaffery, who was named the MAAC Coach of the Year.

Pryor, who also coached AFA's junior varsity team in '05-06, was instrumental in AFA's return to the NCAA Tournament that season. He helped Air Force post a 24-7 record, the second-most wins in one season in program history. The Falcons led the nation in scoring defense and finished fourth in the nation in 3-point percentage at 40.4 percent. Air Force was in the top 20 in the nation in six other statistical categories as well.

Before joining the Academy staff, Pryor spent the previous three years coaching basketball at the USAFA Preparatory School. From 2002-04, he was a volunteer assistant coach at the Prep School while teaching in the behavioral science department at the Academy. In 2004-05, he was the head coach at the Prep School. Pryor, a 1997 graduate of the Academy, had a very successful run at the USAFA Prep School. During his two seasons as an assistant coach, the team had a combined record of 57-10, including a remarkable 31-3 record in 2003-04. As the head coach in `04-05, the team was 17-17.

After graduating from the Academy with a degree in human behavior, Pryor received a master's degree in education with an emphasis in counseling in 1998 from UCCS, then earned an M.B.A degree at William & Mary while serving as a contracting officer at Langley AFB in Virginia. He spent four years at Langley before returning to the Academy in 2002. He separated from the Air Force in 2006.

Pryor and his wife, Joy, are the proud parents of two sons, Salem, who was born in November of 2005, and Seth, who was born April 10, 2007.


 carrollcoach.JPG Drew Long - Assistant Coach

Drew Long, who spent the last three seasons on the basketball staff at the University of Colorado, became part of AF's staff beginning with the 2010-2011 season.

Prior to coming to Air Force, Coach Long was one of three assistant coaches at Colorado responsible for recruiting, player development and game preparation. Prior to becoming an assistant coach, Long was CU's coordinator of men's basketball operations and video coordinator. During his time in Boulder, the Buffaloes improved from seven wins during the 2006-07 campaign to 15 last season.

The 29-year old native of Houston, Texas graduated from Northwestern University in 2004 with a bachelor of arts degree in communication and earned two letters with the Wildcats' basketball team under head coach Bill Carmody. Long returned home shortly after graduation to serve as the Director of Operations for the Houston Swoosh AAU organization. He also coached a variety of youth basketball teams and instructed clinics across the state of Texas.

Prior to joining the CU staff, Long was the assistant coach at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas from 2006-07. As the sole assistant, he was in charge of numerous duties including recruiting, on-court workouts, game preparation and video editing.  Long and his wife, the former Melissa Schau, have a daughter, Alice Kathleen, who was born in March of 2009

Capt. Tom Bellairs joins the Falcon coaching staff for the 2009-10 season. Previously, Bellairs was an assistant basketball coach at the USAFA Prep School during the 2003-04 campaign, helping the Huskies to a 31-3 record. Prior to joining the Air Force program this season, Bellairs spent five years at Los Angeles Air Force Base working in the GPS Wing on the User Equipment Group, primarily building the next generation GPS devices for the modern Warfighter.

Bellairs, who earned his bachelor's degree in management from the Academy in 2003, enjoyed a stellar basketball career with the Falcons. A four-year letterwinner, he is No. 3 on AFA's career rebounding list with 694 and 32nd on the scoring list with 914 points. Bellairs, who started 98 of his 108 career games, is the only Air Force player to lead the team in rebounding in each of his four seasons.

He took the Mountain West Conference by storm as a freshman in 1999-00 when he was named co-freshman of the year and a member of the all-newcomer team by the league. He finished second in the conference in rebounding, averaging 9.2 boards per game, the highest single-season average by an Air Force player since the 1980-81 campaign. Bellairs was the only MWC player to average a double-double in league games that season and set a freshman school record with eight double-doubles.

Bellairs, who had 13 double-doubles in his career, scored a career-high 25 points against Arkansas State as a junior and pulled down a career-best 18 rebounds vs. Dartmouth in his first career start as a freshman. His 90.9 percent (10-of-11) shooting from the floor against Arkansas State is tied for the fourth-best single-game percentage in school history.

While coaching at the Prep School, Bellairs was selected to the All-Air Force and All-Armed Forces basketball teams and represented the United States in the 3rd World Military Games in Cantania, Italy. In 2004, he helped the U.S. Armed Forces team to the gold medal at the 41st SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) Basketball Tournament in Mons, Belgium.

His international basketball experience includes playing for the AHEPA (American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association) team since he was a student at Mullen High school in Denver, Colo. In 2008, the team was invited to play several games in Athens, Greece and defeated the Greek Junior National Team at Olympic Stadium.

Bellairs, who attended Squadron's Office School for military training this spring, is scheduled to complete his master's degree in business administration from the University of Southern California this fall.