ATHENS, W.Va. – In part two of the Concord University Athletic Alumni at Work interview series,
Rob Reed joins Concord University Sports Information
Wes McKinney to continue their conversation from Reed's first appearance.
In an interview that runs over an hour, Reed discusses the culture change for the CU men's basketball program during his first season at Concord in 2014-15, upsetting the number-one ranked team in all of Division II, West Liberty, during his senior season and hitting his famous shot against WLU in the 2016 MEC Tournament.
The interview so many good memories of Reed's two-year run at Concord. The entire interview can be found here:
https://cutt.ly/xgGqFO9
Here's some excerpts from the interview.
ON CHANGING THE IDENTITY OF CONCORD MEN'S BASKETBALL
I think (2014-15) started the culture that's there now with Coach (Todd) May. It was business—we were there to work, there to do something with basketball. There were no weak practices or days off.
Mike Boyd did a really good job of leading the team his senior year.
Paul Byrd did too. Byrd was one of those guys who played well and didn't have to say much, so you kind of followed his lead there. Mike was a little more vocal. It was a really good atmosphere. I got close with everybody and that made me more comfortable.
ON UPSETTING WEST LIBERTY AT THE CARTER CENTER IN 2016
We had just lost to Wheeling Jesuit in overtime (two days before), and we should have won. It was bad the mistakes we made. Right after that game, it was another one of those moments, but it was hot and heavy on both sides, coaches and players. We were angry we lost. We just came in and had real talk the next day. We did what family would do, we talked it out and went to work. The anger was the motivation for us going into that game. I remember when we were at West Liberty the year before, they blew us out. I didn't like the way they went about it—none of us did. We kind of had it out for them anyway. We prepared and went hard, as hard as you can go in two days of preparation. No messing around. We were usually the goofiest bunch of dudes, but we didn't talk about anything funny—locked in and ready to go.
ON WINNING THE MEC CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER THE PATH HE TOOK TO CU
I definitely felt accomplished. I'm such a weird person. Right after we won, I just sat back and watched how everyone else was reacting to it. I wanted a lot of other people to be happy about it. I was happy about it too. Concord was just so transformational for me that I knew that moment was the key to others down the road. I felt like I was going to get use to that feeling. I was really relaxed and happy to be there. It made me a lot more hopeful for the future because it was physical work we put in. Guys can get hot in the tournament and put you out. For us to come together on that level, I know it was because we had a spiritual and soul connection with everybody on the team. We were 100 percent transparent with each other. That was a big thing for us. After I touched the trophy, I was able to reflect on it.
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