WESTERVILLE, OHIO – Otterbein University men’s head basketball coach Dick Reynolds, currently in his 40th season at the helm, has announced that he will retire from coaching and his position as Athletic Director at the conclusion of the 2011-12 season.
“In your life you can change and overcome a lot of things, but you cannot change or overcome time,” said the 69-year old Reynolds, who informed his players of the decision Saturday evening following a game with the University of Mount Union. “It’s time for me to do something different.”
The most successful coach in the history of the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC), Reynolds sits atop the OAC list for career coaching victories with 649. He ranked sixth all-time for victories in NCAA Division III entering this season, fourth among active coaches.
“My wife ElIen has sat on a lot of bleachers and traveled on a lot of trips,” Reynolds said. “I think I owe her some time to do some things that maybe we haven’t done because of the profession that I’m in.”
Coach Reynolds 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 after being picked to finish sixth in the conference preseason coaches’ poll.
He was selected NCAA Division III Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches in 2002; 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.
Reynolds was inducted into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame and the Otterbein University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009.
“I would like to thank Coach Reynolds for 40 years of service to Otterbein, specifically his mentoring of numerous students and student-athletes,” said Bob Gatti, Vice President for Student Affairs. “In addition to coaching, his work as Athletic Director over the past 19 years has benefited this entire institution. He possessed such love and dedication, and always worked to see Otterbein succeed.”
A nine-time OAC Coach of the Year selection, Reynolds became the first OAC coach to take his team to league titles over four different decades. His squads earned six outright conference championships and shared it another five times. He has also guided the program to eight conference tournament titles.
The Cardinals have advanced into the NCAA Division III Tournament 13 times under Reynolds, winning the national championship in 2002 and reaching the Final Four in 1981 and 1991.
His overall record stands at 649-421 (.607), for an average of 16.3 wins per season.
A native of London, Ohio, Reynolds graduated from Otterbein in 1965 after earning four letters each in football, basketball and track. He then returned to his home town 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.
“Otterbein hasn’t been a job or place to work, but rather a lifestyle for me and my family,” Reynolds explained. “We have lived Otterbein. My kids grew up in these facilities and we don’t really know what our life is outside of it. This has been a community where I have been able to teach and coach basketball, and it’s always been a privilege to be able to do that.”
