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'He always got the best out of his kids.' Rush-Henrietta's winningest basketball coach retires

marquel slaughter, rochester democrat and chronicle
·4 min read

Chris Reed is unsure how he'll spend his retirement. The decorated basketball coach and his wife will figure it out when their son finishes law school next year.

Reed, who's already completed his teaching career, recently retired from his Rush-Henrietta coaching post. He'll most remember his players, and he's had some good ones, like former All-Greater Rochester Player of the Year recipients Dane Miller, Mandell Thomas and Calvin Betts — the latter to replace Reed as the Royal Comets' coach.

After admiring his own high school coaches, Jim Cox and Jerry Everling, Reed found coaching success over his 33-year career too. He won with:

  • 5 Section V championships and 10 appearances between Geneseo and RH

  • 7 Coach of the Year honors

  • 428 victories, making him the Comets' winningest coach

It meant the world to him when Cox asked him to takeover the program in 2000.

"It was my dream job. I'm forever grateful and thankful," Reed said.

Chris Reed follows coaches footsteps

A Rush-Henrietta Roth grad, Reed was blessed with quality coaches in each sport. He won basketball section championships under Cox in 1980 and 1981. Everling coached Reed in football, and baseball coach Don Fazio coached Reed in the spring.

"After playing for those legendary guys, I had to pinch myself the first day of practice," Reed said.

He really established himself in the 1990s:

  • In 1990, Spencerport athletic director John Pelin and varsity boys basketball coach Scott Davis gave Reed his first coaching gig: running the Rangers' junior varsity boys basketball team.

  • Reed became athletic director at Geneseo in 1992 and loved it.

  • He coached Geneseo's boys hoops team to the 1999 Section V crown.

  • He was even an assistant on the football team before becoming the head coach in 1999 and 2000, losing the championship game by one point in his second season.

Cox and Everling each retired in 2000 after their own 30-plus-year stints. Reed's first season at RH was the 2000-01 campaign.

"It was always an honor to coach against him because I knew what he accomplished in his career," Victor coach Tyler Roberts said.

Chris Reed propels Rush-Henrietta's heyday

The most memorable moments in Reed's career are from Rush-Henrietta's battles with Fairport:

  • The peak of Rush's rivalry with coach Scott Fitch's Red Raiders spanned from 2001-13, he said.

  • The Royal Comets made eight consecutive finals during that stretch, and went 2-2 against Fairport in the championship game.

  • Those were perhaps Reed and Fitch's best teams. "Every year we were at the top," Reed said.

RH-Fairport game tickets were on presale back then. JV games would sell out. ESPN even broadcasted a game. The now gone Monroe County league tournament allowed them to play up to four times a year.

"Even though we were the biggest of rivals, he always competed hard and had his team prepared, and was going to do it the right way," Fitch said. "I felt like he always got the best out of his kids."

Darrell Barley, Jimmy Johnson, Chris Cardon, Buddy Brasky, Reggie Simmons, Bob and John Nally are just some other Section V coaches Reed admires. The best team Reed ever coached against? Section VI power Niagara Falls is right up there. The Wolverines were nationally ranked when they beat the Comets by eight in 2005 with a roster of future NBA and NFL players.

Reed's final trip to the Section V finals was in 2022. It was a magical ride that saw the Comets overcome double digit deficits throughout the postseason. Mason Giorgione's buzzer beater sent the Royal Comets to the title game.

"For not winning (sectionals), it was one of the most satisfying seasons ever," Reed said. "Those players that stand out ... that's how you win a lot of games."

Betts, a 2006 RH grad and Section V Hall of Fame player, will be the new Comets' coach:

  • Betts had over 1,400 points and 1,200 rebounds under Reed before starring for the University at Buffalo.

  • Betts is a two-time AGR Player of the Year.

  • His 2003-04 team began the season 21-0.

"The program is in good hands," Reed said.

— Marquel Slaughter is a journalist for the Democrat and Chronicle, specializing in high school sports. He has been a sports reporter for 14 years. Follow him on X @MarquelSports or on Instagram. You can contact him at mslaughter1@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Chris Reed retirement: Rush-Henrietta coach goes out with big memories