B.S.E., John Brown University
M.S.E., Arkansas State University
Entering his 34th year at East Texas Baptist University, Kent Reeves is the Senior Associate Athletic Director and been a part of the athletic program from its early NAIA days to a strong member in NCAA Division III.
Reeves, who remains the winningest coach in women's basketball at ETBU and stepped down in in 1997 to assume full-time duties as the athletic director, was the university’s first softball coach. He started the program in 1998 and set a foundation that has become one of the best in the nation annually.
Under Reeves’ 18-years of guidance as the AD, the department grew from just five sports in 1997 to 14 in 2014. ETBU athletics programs have consistently competed for championships in the American Southwest Conference, with 14 conference titles and 18 ASC division titles since joining the Division III ranks in 1998-99. ETBU also claimed the university’s first NCAA national championship in 2010.
Reeves arrived at ETBU as women’s basketball coach in 1987. When he decided to step down as basketball coach following the 1996-97 season, Reeves had directed the lady Tigers to an average of 20 wins per season in his 10 years as coach. He finished with 206 wins and his teams made nine NAIA postseason appearances.
As softball coach from 1998-2000, Reeves built the program from scratch and culminated with the program’s first ASC championship in 2000. He assumed AD-only duties after that season but returned to the dugout in a pinch for the 2004 season. That year, the Tigers posted a then program-record 41 wins. He then took another year off before returning for the 2006-07 seasons, finishing with 183 wins over six seasons behind current head coach Janae Shirley.
Reeves is active in the Marshall community, serving in the Marshall Lions Club as well as being a deacon at Central Baptist Church. He and his wife Mary Beth have two daughters: Kendra, who is married to Austin Skipworth, and Taylor, a graduate of Baylor University who was married in August 2013. He also has two grand daughters and one grandson.
