Cheryl Reeve
Cheryl Reeve will begin her fourth season as the Lynx head coach in 2013 after guiding the team to a second-consecutive WNBA Finals appearance and league-best 27-7 regular season record in 2012. She signed a multi-year contract extension on December 5, 2012 after being initially named head coach on Dec. 8, 2009, taking over for former head coach Jennifer Gillom.
Under Reeve’s tutelage, the Lynx have won a WNBA-best 67 games dating back to the start of the 2010 season, including winning the first WNBA championship in franchise history in 2011 and making a return trip to the Finals in 2012. Minnesota’s 54 regular season wins over the past two seasons are the second highest two-season win total in WNBA history (56 - Los Angeles, 2000-01). Her .657 winning percentage ranks second in WNBA history (Michael Cooper, 167-85, .663), one of just four coaches to win at least 60% of their games in league history (Chancellor, Thibault). Reeve led the Lynx to the first WNBA title in franchise history in 2011, being selected as the 2011 WNBA Coach of the Year. Minnesota saw a 14-game improvement between 2010 and 2011, the second-largest single season win increase in WNBA history.
Reeve’s coaching resume includes 24 years as both an assistant and a head coach at the collegiate and WNBA levels. In 2009, Reeve served as an assistant coach with the WNBA’s Detroit Shock, and was promoted to the team’s general manager position just three games into the season. Hired by three-time WNBA champion head coach Bill Laimbeer, Reeve joined the Shock coaching staff in 2006 and helped the franchise reach the WNBA Finals in each of her first three years, winning WNBA titles in 2006 and 2008. During her four years with Detroit, the team held an 87-49 win/loss record and won at least 18 games each season, including 24 in 2007. Reeve also served as the Shock’s director of player personnel in 2008.
Reeve got her start in the WNBA with the Charlotte Sting in 2001 when she joined Anne Donovan’s staff as an assistant coach. After posting an 8-24 record in 2000, Charlotte turned things around in Reeve’s first year, going 18-14 en route to advancing to the WNBA Finals. Reeve spent the 2002 season again in Charlotte before joining Dan Hughes’ coaching staff in Cleveland for the 2003 season. Reeve returned to the Sting in 2004 and 2005 before joining Detroit in 2006. In Reeve’s nine years as an assistant in the WNBA, she compiled a .543 winning percentage (163-137 W/L), including seven postseason appearances and advancing to the WNBA Finals four times.
Before joining the WNBA coaching ranks, Reeve spent 12 years coaching collegiately, including a five-year stint as head coach at Indiana State from 1995-2000. Reeve guided the Sycamores to the program's first postseason berth in 20 years following the 1998-99 campaign.
Reeve also spent five years as an assistant coach at George Washington. During that time, the Colonials posted five 20-win seasons, captured three Atlantic 10 Conference Championships and appeared in four NCAA Tournaments. Reeve got her start in coaching at her alma matter, La Salle, as an assistant coach for two seasons.
As a player at La Salle, Reeve led the nationally-ranked Explorers to a 25-5 record in 1987-1988. She was named All-Metro Atlantic Conference and was an All-Big 5 selection as a senior. Reeve holds the school record for most games started (110) and ranks fourth on La Salle’s career assist leader board (420).
Reeve excelled athletically and academically at La Salle, graduating with a degree in computer science/management information systems. A Rhodes Scholar nominee, Reeve received both a MAAC Scholar-Athlete Post Graduate Award and a NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship in 1988. She went on to earn her master’s degree in business administration from her alma mater while also serving two years as an assistant coach for the Explorers.