LIVINGSTON, Ala. – University of West Alabama men’s basketball coach Rick Reedy announced Friday his retirement effective April 1, 2007.

“Rick Reedy has been a true team player during his 20-plus years here in Livingston,” Director of Athletics E. J. Brophy said. “We hate to see him go, but wish him the very best during his retirement from coaching.”

Reedy, in his 23^rd season as head coach at West Alabama, has compiled a 270-329 record prior to this weekend’s contest versus Gulf South Conference foe Delta State. His 22 campaigns at the West Alabama helm have brought inspired play and quality student-athletes to the UWA campus.

“Rick has been a wonderful ambassador for our department and for our university,” Compliance Director Dee Outlaw said. “He has worked tirelessly to win basketball games. He is a gentleman and most of all, a friend. I am excited for Pat and him, but at the same time I will miss him dearly.”

Reedy, 55, came to UWA as an assistant in 1980 after a three-year tenure as an assistant and head coach at Crystal River (Fla.) High School. He took the reigns at West Alabama in 1984 and took the Tigers to the top of the Gulf South Conference, winning more than 250 games over the next 20 seasons.

In 1987-88, Reedy guided the rebuilding Tigers to an 18-9 mark and the school’s first basketball playoff berth in years. The following season, he led West Alabama to a similarly impressive 17-10 finish, earning GSC Coach of the Year honors and yet another postseason appearance.

As the 90s approached, Reedy’s popularity swelled and West Alabama basketball became very popular among the Livingston community. Fans and students routinely flocked to Pruitt Hall’s “Kill Section” to watch the Tigers play a fervent, hustling brand of basketball and rack up 35 wins in a two-season span from 1996-98.

Reedy – the longest serving coach at UWA – routinely serves on a wide variety of West Alabama committees and organizations, and is firmly committed to the future of the University and its Athletic Department.

“It has been a wonderful experience for the past 26 years,” Reedy said. “I would like to thank President Asa Green for having the trust in me to hire me as head coach. I was fortunate to have met my wife here and to have developed some lifelong friendships. I am most proud of the fact that we ran a clean program and even though we had limitations, we were always respected by other coaches as a team that played hard. I will always be a UWA Tiger.”

Reedy, along with wife Patsy, plan to leave Livingston and move to Fairhope, Ala., where they will live on the river and do some traveling.

A search for a new men’s basketball coach will begin in January.