Former NBA All-Star Reggie Theus Joins Louisville Basketball Staff

Reggie Theus

Reggie Theus, a 13-year NBA veteran and two-time NBA All-Star, has joined University of Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino's men's basketball staff as an assistant coach.

A volunteer assistant coach for the past year at Cal State Los Angeles, Theus spent 13 years in the NBA with the Chicago Bulls, Kansas City/Sacramento Kings, Atlanta Hawks, Orlando Magic and New Jersey Nets. Following the 1978-79 season, he finished as runner-up in the NBA Rookie of the Year voting to Kansas City's Phil Ford and later was a two-time All-Star with the Chicago Bulls in 1981 and 1983.

Theus has also gained coaching experience as the head coach of the Las Vegas Slam (ABA) in the spring of 2002, head coach of the Southern California All-Stars (17 and under AAU team), and as a summer league coach for the Philadelphia 76ers and Denver Nuggets.

He is one of only five players in NBA history to produce at least 19,000 points and 6,000 assists, joining John Havlicek, Oscar Robinson, John Stockton and Jerry West with that distinction. He scored 19,015 points (No. 36 in NBA history) and handed out 6,453 career assists (19th all-time), averaging 18.5 points, 6.3 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game in his 13 NBA seasons. Theus also played one year in Italy (1991-92) before retiring from professional basketball.

Theus has served as an NBA television analyst for Turner Sports, ESPN and Fox Sports Net; a co-star on Fox Sports Net's "The Best Damn Sports Show Period;" a sports radio talk show host, and his extensive acting credits include playing Coach Bill Fuller for three years on NBC's Saturday morning television show "Hang Time."

A Los Angeles native and Inglewood High product, Theus played college basketball at UNLV (1976-78), scoring 1,177 points in his three seasons there. He helped the Runnin' Rebels reach the 1977 Final Four his junior season, where they lost to North Carolina before defeating Charlotte in the third place game. Theus averaged 18.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game as a senior in 1977-78 and his jersey number 23 is retired by the Rebels. He played against U of L once during his collegiate career, producing 13 points, five rebounds and four assists as 10th-ranked UNLV beat Louisville 99-96 in Las Vegas his junior year (Feb. 12, 1977).

He has been active in many charitable causes, including such programs as the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse, the NBA's Stay in School program, "Rap with Reggie," and Reggie Theus' Trikes for Kids.

Theus and his wife Elaine have three children: Raquel, Reggie, Jr. and Ryan. He fills the void on the U of L coaching staff created when Mick Cronin -- the 17th former Pitino assistant coach or player that has been a collegiate head coach -- left the Cardinals in April to become the head coach at Murray State.