LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – I'm not going to begin the way nearly every other story about former Indiana University basketball player Neil Reed will begin today. Not on the day after he passed away because of a heart attack at 36 Thursday afternoon, leaving behind a wife and two daughters ages 6-and-under.
Not when he was coaching high school basketball and golf in California, and Reed had made a solid connection with current Indiana basketball coach Tom Crean, asking him to read a book Reed had written about his coaching philosophy.
Not when the Reed I remember wanted nothing more than to play basketball at Indiana, something he proved by battling through his entire freshman season with a separated shoulder. He didn't have it repaired until after the season.
Not when Reed performed like one of the best three-point shooters at IU, a scrappy defensive player who learned to share the ball but still scored 938 points in only three seasons.
Reed was not going to turn 37 until November. That's way too young to die. And Reed's passing stirs memories of another former IU player from that era – Jason Collier, a powerful left-handed center who also passed away because of a heart issue in 2005.
Reed, of course, has inspired more stories than usual today because he was a player (and not the only one) who quarreled with former IU coach Bob Knight. In the beginning, Reed appeared to be a Knight favorite because of his grit. By the end of his junior season, that was not the case.
Reed later claimed that Knight put his hands around Reed's throat, a charge the coach denied. A practice video taken from the balcony in Assembly Hall later surfaced on CNN that supported Reed's allegation.
That, of course, led to the zero tolerance policy that led to Knight's dustup with an IU student in Assembly Hall in Sept. 2000, which led to his stunning dismissal.
Reed's transfer to Southern Miss, along with the move by Collier to Georgia Tech and the jump by popular Luke Recker to Arizona and then Iowa certainly gave the impression of considerable unhappiness in the IU locker room.
It was announced that Reed had been "voted off the team," but he wasn't the only guy who wanted out during that era. Those transfers and the choking incident became more than Knight could survive – and some IU fans (a minority) have never forgiven Reed.
Crean reacted to Reed's passing with this statement on Twitter:
"The shock of the passing of Neil Reed and the sadness we feel for his wife, two daughters and entire family is overwhelming. Tragic news ... Neil was building a career in coaching and had even sent me his coaching philosophy book a few years back to proof. Pray for his family."
Reed had moved on, finishing his career at Southern Miss, doing some work in the media and then starting his coaching career on the West Coast.
Now he is gone. Way too young.
Condolences to his wife, children, parents, former teammates and friends.
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Neil Reed played through a separated shoulder as an IU freshman.
