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Men's Basketball Coaching Staff
DICK REYNOLDS
RReynolds@otterbein.edu
614-823-3518 (office)
Head
Coach Dick Reynolds has established himself as one of the most successful
coaches in the 105-year history of the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC).
The
64-year-old Reynolds, who also serves as the director of athletics at Otterbein,
reached the pinnacle of his career during the 2001-02 season, guiding the
Cardinals to their first national championship. Otterbein finished at 30-3,
winning the OAC regular-season title and post-season tournament — that after
being picked to finish sixth in the conference in a preseason coaches’ poll.
In
2002, Reynolds was selected NCAA Division III Coach of the Year by the National
Association of Basketball Coaches; and for the second time in his career, Ohio
College Coach of the Year by his Ohio coaching peers in balloting conducted by
the Columbus
Dispatch. He also
earned this honor in 1981.
After
35 seasons, he ranks first among OAC skippers on the all-time career victory
list with 611. Nationally, Reynolds sits fourth for victories among active
coaches and fifth all-time in NCAA Division III. Among all NCAA divisions,
Reynolds holds down the 45th spot, just 53 wins away from legendary UCLA coach
John Wooden.
Reynolds
notched career win 600 on Dec. 09, 2006, a 95-84 win over Muskingum at home.
Only four other coaches have reached that mark in NCAA Division III.
A
nine-time OAC Coach of the Year selection, Reynolds became the first coach in
the OAC to take teams to conference titles over four different decades. He has
taken his cagers to at least a share of the regular-season conference title 11
times, earning it outright in 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1992 and 2002; and sharing
it in 1973, 1976, 1981, 1985 and 2000. The 1978, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993,
1994 and 2002 teams won the conference’s post-season tournament.
His
overall record stands at 611-341 — for an average of 17.5 wins a season — en
route to constructing a program which has often placed Otterbein in the national
spotlight.
The
Cardinals have advanced into the NCAA Division III Tournament 13 times under
Reynolds’ tutelage, winning the national championship in 2002 and reaching the
Final Four in 1981 and 1991.
Other
NCAA Tournament finishes include: the regionals in 1978, the regionals in 1985,
the quarterfinals in 1986, the regionals in 1987, the quarterfinals in 1989, the
first round in 1990, the sectional finals in 1992, the second round in 1993, the
first round in 1994 and the second round in 1999.
Despite
difficult scheduling and the pressures of maintaining a top-flight program,
Reynolds’ coaching philosophy has consistently produced outstanding results.
“The
key is to get everything we can out of every individual on the team,” Reynolds
says. “Every player is a contributor throughout the entire year. It pays to
encourage total team involvement.”
Reynolds
has a simple formula for his success.
“What
I like to be able to do is put a team on the floor that is well disciplined,
well groomed, plays together and plays hard,” he says. “If you have those
qualities, combined with talent, you’re going to win.
“If
you’re not well groomed, you’re not disciplined,” Reynolds continues.
“If you’re not disciplined, you won’t play together. And if you don’t
play together, you usually don’t play hard.”
Despite
his success — 19 seasons with 18 or more victories — Reynolds remains
content with his current coaching duties.
“Coaching
to me is not necessarily wins and losses,” Reynolds said. “Yes, you like the
wins, but I’ve stayed at Otterbein because I like the situation. I like the
people. I like what I’m doing here.”
Following
graduation from Otterbein in 1965, where he was a 12-time letterman in football,
basketball and track, Reynolds returned to his home town of London, Ohio, and
taught seventh-grade science while serving as an assistant coach in football,
basketball and track at the high school. He was inducted into the London Sports
Hall of Fame in 1992.
Reynolds
served three years in the U.S. Air Force (1966-69) as a personnel services
officer in charge of recreation. His service teams compiled a 38-10 record.
He
spent three seasons as assistant under Otterbein head coach Curt Tong, guiding
the junior varsity squad to a 31-20 mark before taking over as head coach in
1972.
Reynolds
and his wife, Ellen, live in Westerville. They have two children, Amanda and
Chad, and five grandchildren.
KYLE POTTKOTTER
Kyle
Pottkotter, 31, brings nine years of
basketball coaching experience to the Otterbein men’s basketball program. Prior
to coming to Otterbein, he served as the assistant men’s basketball coach at
Denison University in Granville, Ohio from 2002-2008. In addition, he served as
the head men’s golf coach.
Before going to Denison, Pottkotter held the position of assistant men’s
basketball coach at The College of Wooster from 1999-2002. During his time at
Wooster, he assisted in leading the Fighting Scots to one regular-season North
Coast Athletic Conference Championship and two tournament championships.
“I am thrilled about becoming part of
the Otterbein program, which has a rich history of success and excellence in
such a respected conference like the OAC,” Pottkotter said. “I am very grateful
for the opportunity to work for, and learn from, a legendary coach like Dick
Reynolds, as well.”
A native of Celina, Ohio, Pottkotter
earned his bachelor’s degree in history from Denison University in 1999. He then
earned his master’s degree of Sport Science in Sport Coaching from the United
States Sports Academy in Daphne, Alabama in 2002.
“I hope to contribute and build on the
tradition of the basketball program, while helping to enhance the overall
Otterbein experience of our student-athletes,” said Pottkotter. “I am also
excited to assist in attracting future student athletes to Otterbein”.
Pottkotter resides in New Albany, Ohio.
CHAD
REYNOLDS
A
1990 Otterbein graduate, Chad Reynolds enters his 13th season as an assistant
under his father, head coach Dick Reynolds.
A
two-sport athlete at Otterbein, Reynolds earned three letters each in football
and basketball. He served as co-captain of the basketball team his senior year,
and was awarded the Deke Edler Award for basketball and the Augspurger/Ballenger
Outstanding Athlete Award.
Reynolds
earned his master’s degree in 1996 from the Ohio State University. He
currently serves as the principal at Goshen Lane Elementary in the
Gahanna-Jefferson Public Schools system.
Chad,
his wife, Cindy, son, Ric, 11, and daughter, Olivia, 8, reside in Westerville.
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