Yobo����

Yobo���� News > Former Yobo���� Lady Jets assistant basketball coach Tomekia Reed earning recognition as head coach at Charlotte 49ers

Former Yobo���� Lady Jets assistant basketball coach Tomekia Reed earning recognition as head coach at Charlotte 49ers
April 1, 2025
Former Yobo���� Lady Jets first assistant women’s basketball coach Tomekia Reed is now the head women’s basketball coach at UNC Charlotte and she had the opportunity to watch her old team play at the NJCAA National Tournament in Casper, Wyoming this year.
Former Yobo���� Lady Jets first assistant women’s basketball coach Tomekia Reed is now the head women’s basketball coach at UNC Charlotte and she had the opportunity to watch her old team play at the NJCAA National Tournament in Casper, Wyoming this year.
Casper, Wyoming – Former South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach Tomekia Reed became the ninth head women’s basketball coach for the UNC Charlotte 49ers in April of 2024 and she reconnected with the Lady Jets at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) 2025 Division 1 women’s basketball National Tournament in Casper, Wyoming.

Former Lady Jets assistant coach Tomekia Reed completes her first season as Head Coach for UNC Charlotte 49ers.

Reed had just completed her first full season as head coach at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and had taken her team to the quarter-final round of the American Athletic Conference Tournament before losing to the fourth-seeded Temple Owls, 65 – 34.

Mike Hill, Director of Athletics for UNC Charlotte, describes Reed as “a proven winner whose passion for developing young people through the game of basketball is inspiring. Her enthusiasm is contagious and will translate into even more success for her. She shares our vision for greatness, and we are ecstatic to have her lead our program.”

UNC Charlotte Chancellor Sharon L. Gaber added that “Tomekia Reed is one of the most talented young coaches in college basketball today. Throughout her career, she has demonstrated a strong commitment to excellence, both on and off the court.”

After her team’s loss in the AAC tournament, Reed travelled to Casper, Wyoming to recruit from some of the best NJCAA players in the country at the national tournament. She attended the South Georgia Technical College – Hutchinson Community College game in Casper and was very pleased with the talent she saw on both teams.

“I tell everyone I got my coaching start at South Georgia Technical College,” said Reed at the NJCAA National Tournament. “I really enjoyed my time there as an assistant coach with head coach Brandon Harrell. “We started that program from scratch in 2004 and look where it is now.” She was also very complimentary of the Lady Jets players and their performance on the national stage against the defending national champions.

Like Reed, the South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets have moved up. That first season Harrell and Reed and the Lady Jets struggled and went 8 – 23. The second year they turned it around and were 17 – 15.

Today, the Lady Jets have been to the NJCAA National Tournament 11-times in their 20-year history and Reed has put together an overall record as a head coach of 136 – 75 including a 99 – 24 conference record, with three consecutive 20+ win seasons.

Reed is also a three-time HBCU National Coach of the Year. She moved to Charlotte following a highly successful six-year stint as head coach of the Jackson State University Tigers. She accepted that job in April of 2018 and was highlighted in 2022 by the Black Coaches Association as the only black head coach in men’s and women’s NCAA Division I basketball that was undefeated in conference play.

She took the Jackson State University Tigers to new heights by winning five consecutive Southwestern Athletic conference (SWAC) regular season titles and three SWAC tournament titles, including back-to-back championships in 2021 and 2022. She was a four-time SWAC Coach of the Year (2020, 2022, 2023, and 2024). The 2020 championship was the first regular season crown for JSU since 2008 and the 2021 tournament championship earned the first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2008.

She went to Jackson State following a successful three-year stint as coach of the Hinds Community College women’s basketball team. Hinds Community College won a combined 47 games under Reed, including consecutive winning seasons in 2016 – 2017 and 2017 – 2018. Reed led Hinds CC to the NJCAA Region 23 title game in 2017.

Reed played a portion of her college basketball career at Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus. After graduation, she landed her first assistant coaching job at South Georgia Technical College with Lady Jets head coach Brandan Harrell. She coached at Yobo���� for two seasons and was the very first Yobo���� assistant women’ basketball coach.

A native of Jackson, Mississippi, Reed was Jackson State’s women’s basketball recruiting coordinator from 2006 – 2009. While there, she served as the top assistant and also worked with post players at JSU and served as the team’s academic liaison. During that time, the Lady Tigers claimed the SWAC regular season championship and made a WNIT appearance in 2006 – 2007. The 2007 – 2008 JSU squad captured the SWAC Tournament championship and made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Reed also had assistant coaching stops at Southern Mississippi, Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Lafayette, and New Orleans, serving as recruiting coordinator at each school during her respective stints.

As a college player, Reed began her career at Southern Mississippi where she received the Coach’s Award, the Most Improved Player Award and helped lead the program to a WNIT berth in 1999-2000.

Reed then transferred to Hinds Community College where she was named most valuable player while leading the team in scoring and rebounding. She was second in the conference in scoring and first in the conference in rebounding. Reed was named MJCAA first-team for her effort.

She later signed to play at Georgia Southwestern State where she led the team in scoring and was named the most valuable player.

Reed received an associate degree in sports medicine from Hinds Community College in 2001. She then earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise science in 2003 from Georgia Southwestern State University.