Tulane seems interested in hiring Tomekia Reed as their next women’s basketball coach. According to a report by NOLA.com sports columnist Rod Walker, Tulane has interviewed Reed for the open coaching position. This development follows Reed’s contract expiration with Jackson State on Sunday. The Clarion-Ledger’s JT Keith reported that Reed signed a four-year contract extension on July 15, 2020, worth approximately $135,000 per year. Currently, Jackson State has not officially announced whether they are in contract extension discussions with Reed.
Tomekia Reed is a college basketball coaching sensation who has built an amazing reputation for herself with her success leading the Jackson State Tigers. Reed joined Jackson State in 2018 after three successful seasons at Hinds Community College. Jackson State has flourished under her leadership, with three trips to the NCAA Tournament in 2021, 2022, and 2024 as well as multiple SWAC Championships. They faced off against UConn in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, ultimately losing 86-64.
Geno Auriemma praised Reed in postgame remarks, as posted by the NCAA March Madness Twitter account.
“I wanted to commend her on her season, going undefeated in your league. 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 I wanted to put myself out there and for her. And I think we need coaches like her to be celebrated.”
He also said that he believes that Reed and coaches such as her should be considered for openings at Power Five institutions in his remarks. “And bigger schools need to not keep recycling coaches that are let go by other power five schools, whatever you want to call them, that they should start looking outside the box a little bit because there’s a lot of great coaches out there and she’s one of them.”
According to a 2022 report by HBCU Gameday, Reed has garnered notable attention from other institutions during her time at Jackson State. HBCU Gameday founder Steven J. Gaither reported in 2022 that Reed had interviewed for available positions and had been presented with a Power Five opportunity. However, she declined the offer to stay at Jackson State.
“I had several interviews with some Power Five institutions. 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],” she said at the time in a quote obtained by HBCU Gameday.
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