Reggie Helps Regain Respect for Aggies

It’s the kind of story that Disney movies are made of.

And with his previous acting experience, NMSU Men’s Basketball coach Reggie Theus could star as himself.

Aggie basketball was a lost cause a few years ago. Games were fun, but the Pan American Center in Las Cruces rarely roared and Aggies didn’t bleed maroon the way they should. It would take a miracle to breath life back into the basketball program in Southern New Mexico. But, if Disney has taught us anything, it’s that miracles are more than possible, especially in sports. And in a word, our miracle was Reggie.

The press jumped all over Reggie Theus’ decision to coach such a bleak team, but in 2005-2006, Theus's first year as a head coach, the team “tied for the fifth-best turnaround in all of Division I basketball and the best single-season improvement of any NMSU squad since the 1985-1986 season,” according to a New Mexico State University press release.

Basketball coach legend Lou Henson had just retired and NMSU had a laughable 6-24 season before Reggie made his way to the Southwest. Now the numbers are reversed, as the Aggies just finished the season 25-9.

NMSU hosted the 2007 Western Athletic Conference (WAC) tournament earlier this March. As the first conference hosted by NMSU, the pressure was on, but the Aggies rose to the occasion as they clinched the WAC tournament and won an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The 72-70 win over Utah State certainly gave the “Panamaniacs*” something to celebrate.

*As nicknamed by Dick Vitale about the NMSU fans at Las Cruces’s Pan American Center.

The packed out stadium rushed the court and with that, it was obvious NMSU basketball was back in action. It’s often unfair to place all the glory or blame on the shoulders of one man, but the kudos goes to Theus, the coach that earns louder chants from the crowd than the team itself. He walks down the steps of the Pan American Center with that gleam of earned arrogance and pride, while the team runs through the tunnel to get to the court.

The moment Theus stepped foot in Las Cruces he has been playing the PR game. Weekly radio shows at the former Johnny Carino's and now at Farley’s. A local television program through PBS/KRWG-TV aptly named “The Reggie Theus Show.” And now with a winning season under his belt, he doesn’t need much more to earn the respect of New Mexicans.

But Theus isn’t just seeking respect, he’s seeking a higher paycheck as well. This season Reggie racked in $355,000, but he's looking for more to quench his monetary satisfaction, though it’s already a well-known fact around the LC he’s a high roller for the area. But in the realm of sports, he has a point.

Theus wasn't quite the hot item two years ago like he is now, ESPN reported. It took ages for Theus to snag a gig as a head coach. He was an NBA player, analyst, broadcaster, actor, and then went on to coach a 17-and-under AAU team…not the star-studded glitz and glamour job he was hoping for, I’m sure. He then took a position as an assistant coach under Rick Pitino of Louisville, which helped pave the way to Aggie basketball.

And if you’re thinking he looks familiar, think back to his television days. I’m not talking when he was an NBA analyst or his brief cameo in “Forget Paris,” I’m talking “Hang Time,” the tNBC morning show watched by millions of kids nationwide.

Theus played “Coach Bill Fuller,” and though this always gets a shout out in the press, the fact that current college kids all recognize him from his “Hang Time” days is never played up the way it should be. His stint on this ridiculously cheesy, yet awesome, tween show has given Theus the edge with college students at NMSU. The shirts say it all: Reggie Nation.

Theus is proud of his “Hang Time” roots (well, tolerant anyway), saying in a press conference earlier this year when asked how he liked the crowd at a University of New Mexico game: “It was great, except for the guy who said he didn’t like ‘Hang Time.’ Come on, who didn’t like Hang Time?”

He poses a good question.

Reggie Theus is a good sport and is helping Aggie basketball become another good sport, like it once was. Here’s hoping he keeps it going and sticks around Las Cruces. He not only turned the team around, but he added flavor back into being a fan.

And maybe one day--if we're lucky--we’ll be seeing him on the big screen again.