This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Cedar City • Moments after Oral Roberts outlasted Southern Utah last Saturday night, coach Roger Reid took a detour on his way to the locker room.
After the fiercely competitive 73-71 loss in the Thunderbirds' final home game of the season, Reid took time to acknowledge those in the SUU student section, who had expended nearly as much energy as his players.
"Thank you," Reid shouted. "Thank you, thank you. You guys have been great."
Heading into the Summit League tournament, the question is whether Reid's emotional good-bye was his curtain call at Southern Utah.
This is the final season of his original five-year contract with SUU.
Reid has not yet signed an extension and, although the Thunderbirds are clearly improved, they have not enjoyed the kind of success that typically enables a coach on the edge to survive.
Southern Utah is 13-16 overall after finishing 8-10 in the conference.
The Thunderbirds lost twice to conference champion Oral Roberts by a combined eight points. They also lost at Utah State, 65-62, and twice in overtime.
Still, SUU ended up as the No. 6 seed in the Summit League tournament. They will be the underdog against third-seeded Oakland in the quarterfinals on Sunday night at Sioux Falls, S.D.
Sourthern Utah athletic director Ken Beazer declined comment on the coaching situation. But a decision on Reid's future has likely been made and will be announced one way or the other after the Thunderbirds complete their season.
The odds seem stacked against Reid, a former two-sport star at Weber State and ex-BYU coach who has been part of Utah's sporting scene since his all-state days at Springville High in the 1960s.
Reid replaced veteran coach Bill Evans at Southern Utah in 2007, after the Thunderbirds finished 16-14.
In his five seasons, Reid has compiled a 53-96 record hitting bottom in 2009-10 when the Thunderbirds went 7-22.
After last season, there were internal discussions among school administrators about parting ways with Reid, but he was brought back for SUU's final year in the Summit League.
This summer, Southern Utah joins the Big Sky Conference.
Reid, obviously, would like to remain coach the Thunderbirds as they enter a new era in their basketball history.
After the loss to Oral Roberts, he said, "We've finally got a good, good thing going at Southern Utah. It's taken awhile to get the program where it is, but if anybody knew where we were with RPIs and all that when we started …"
After pausing and taking a deep breath, Reid added, "This program is on solid ground for the move into the Big Sky, I'll guarantee you that."
Short-term, Reid thinks the Thunderbirds can be the surprise team in its final Summit League tournament.
"Everybody is 0-0 right now … [and] there's nobody in our league we can't beat," he said. "That's the neat thing. There are always Cinderella teams. Why not us?"
Reid-ing material
Southern Utah coach Roger Reid's record over the last five seasons:
Season Record Pct.
2007-08 11-19 .367
2008-09 11-20 .355
2009-10 7-22 .241
2010-11 11-19 .367
2011-12 13-16 .448
Total 53-96 .356
Summit schedule
The schedule for the Summit League men's basketball tournament, which runs Saturday through Tuesday in Sioux Falls, S.D. All times are Mountain:
Saturday
5 p.m. • Oral Roberts (26-5) vs. IPFW (11-18)
7:30 p.m. • South Dakota State (24-7) vs. IUPUI (14-17)
Sunday
5 p.m. • North Dakota State (17-12) vs. Western Illinois (16-13)
7:30 p.m. • Oakland (17-14) vs. Southern Utah (13-16)
Monday
5 p.m. • Oral Roberts-IPFW winner vs. South Dakota State-IUPUI winner
7:30 p.m. • North Dakota State-Western Illinois winner vs. Oakland-Southern Utah winner
Tuesday
7 p.m. • Championship game, ESPN2