Jackson State's administration is preparing to shell out top-of-the-market money to keep head women's basketball coach Tomekia Reed in Mississippi. A report from J.T. Keith of the Clarion Ledger was released on April 2nd, citing an anonymous source that indicated Jackson State's desire to extend Reed on a four-year, $1 million deal. That would be a massive increase from her previous contract, which paid her around $135,000 per year. Reed's deal expired at the end of March, and Jackson State seems to be hellbent on keeping her following their recent success.
At the start of her free agency, Reed interviewed with Tulane University. Those talks have fallen through, though, as Tulane announced the hiring of 2009 graduate Ashley Langford. Langford, the Green Wave's seventh head coach, makes history also as the first Black head coach.
“Her commitment to both athletics and academics was central to her selection as our new head coach,” said Tulane President Michael A. Fitts. “We couldn't be more delighted to welcome her back to campus.”
With Tulane now off the table, Jackson State's rumored offer to Tomekia Reed is the only publicly known option. If she remains unsigned, she is bound to garner interest from Power Five schools. In 2022, she interviewed with a few Power Five institutions but decided to remain with Jackson State.
“I had several interviews with some Power Five institutions,” Reed told Steven J. Gaither of HBCU Gameday. “I mean, it was amazing. It came down the stretch, and I was one of the finalists for a particular position, but I was not afforded that opportunity. I had another opportunity that was offered to me, and I almost accepted that opportunity. But, I felt like it was more work to be done [at Jackson State].”
There are many reasons for Jackson State's massive offer, though none are more important than the Lady Tigers' 2023-24 campaign. They ended with a 26-7 overall record, but they completely razed their SWAC competition. Jackson State went undefeated in conference play and strolled to a SWAC Tournament Championship with a 68-44 beat down of Alcorn State. The Lady Tigers earned a #14 seed in the NCAA Tournament, unfortunately matching up with the now-Final Four team, the UConn Huskies. Jackson State fell to UConn, but head coach Geno Auriemma had glowing remarks for Reed after the game.
“I wanted to commend her on her season, going undefeated in your league,” Auriemma said. “I don't care what league you play in, I don't care who you play against. You play 18 conference games and you win them all and you win your conference tournament. That's a hell of a job and it's not like the first time, right? I mean, she's been doing this for quite some time now there and a lot of these coaches that work like that and you have tremendous success and put together great teams and have put together a terrific program. Nobody knows about them. They certainly don't get on TV enough. They certainly don't get enough recognition. And I wanted to let her know that and that I wanted to put myself out there for her. And I think we need coaches like her to be celebrated.”
Reed has been with Jackson State since 2018. Over her career, she's posted a 125-54 overall record with a 95-10 record in the SWAC. Her teams have won five straight regular season titles and have made the NCAA Tournament in three of the last four years.
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