PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Jimmy Reilly is the new head men’s basketball coach at Division II Thomas Jefferson University.
He spent the last 15 years as the top assistant to Basketball Hall of Famer Herb Magee, and he's taking over now that Magee has retired.
KYW Newsradio caught up with Reilly, who played college basketball at Division III Ursinus College, about his career in basketball and how he actually pursued broadcasting before coaching.
“You know, I worked at WIP for a little bit. I worked at NFL Films. I worked at 6ABC. Now these are all part-time jobs, but I did try that avenue first. I made demo tapes. I shipped them out all over the place and actually almost moved to Fargo, North Dakota, but decided against that. And then I would say like a year, a year-and-a-half, two years after that, then I realized I’ve got to get back into basketball,” said Reilly.
After 15 years on staff, the 55-year Hall of Fame coach of the Rams chose Reilly as his successor.
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"Right before this past season, Coach Magee said, 'Yeah, this is going to be my last year, and I want you to take over.' And then obviously, you know, Coach Shirley's (Tom Shirley, Assistant Vice President for Athletics) blessing, which was huge," said Reilly. "From there, everybody from the university got on board. And that's how it really, really happened."
You can listen to Reilly talk about replacing a legend like Magee, but understand how he has to do it his way — "I gotta be me" — on the podcast below.