Don Reid, the Hall of Fame coach who guided Merced College’s men’s basketball program to back‑to‑back state championships in the late 1970s, passed away this week at the age of 89. Tributes have poured in from across the sport, highlighting a career that reshaped junior‑college basketball in California.
A Life Defined by Basketball
Reid served as the first head men’s basketball coach at Merced College from 1963 until his retirement in 1988, amassing a record that featured 14 conference titles and a streak in which his teams finished either first or second in 21 of 24 seasons.
His influence reached beyond the Central Valley. In the late 1980s he coached the United Arab Emirates National Olympic team, bringing his disciplined style to an emerging basketball nation, and he launched the college’s women’s basketball program in 1992, laying a foundation for future generations.
The breadth of his contributions was recognized with inductions into the Merced College Athletic Hall of Fame, the California Community College Men’s Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, and the Sonora High Athletic Hall of Fame. In 2010 the campus named its basketball court in his honor, a permanent reminder of his legacy.
Born in Manteca and raised in Sonora, Reid graduated from Sonora High School in 1954 before pursuing higher education at Modesto Junior College and San Jose State University, where he earned his degree in 1959.
Former players and colleagues recall a mentor who demanded excellence both on and off the court. Allen Huddleston Sr., who began as a student assistant under Reid, succeeded him to lead the women’s program and went on to win nearly 500 games, while longtime colleague Jim Silva often spoke of Reid’s unwavering commitment to student‑athlete development.