Alumni Spotlight: J.R. Reynolds
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By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com
CHARLOTTESVILLE –– Starting this summer, VirginiaSports.com will check in periodically with former UVA student-athletes. First up in this series is J.R. Reynolds, a Roanoke native who was a standout guard on the Virginia men’s basketball team from 2003-07.
The 6-2 Reynolds starred at Roanoke Catholic before transferring to Oak Hill Academy for his senior year of high school. At UVA, he played for head coach Pete Gillen as a freshman and sophomore and for Dave Leitao as a junior and senior.
Reynolds was named to the ACC’s All-Freshman team in 2003-04, the All-ACC third team in 2005-06 and the All-ACC second team in 2006-07. He graduated from UVA in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology.
At Virginia, Reynolds ranks 13th in career points (1,683), sixth in career 3-pointers (221), and ninth (along with Sean Singletary) in career 3-point field-goal percentage (36.2).
Reynolds teamed with Singletary to form one of the nation’s top backcourts. In 2007-07, they led the Cavaliers to the NCAA tournament for the first time in six years, and they nearly reached the Sweet Sixteen.
In the first round, Reynolds scored a game-high 28 points in an 84-57 win over Albany in Columbus, Ohio. Two nights later, he led all scorers with 26 points in a 77-74 second-round loss to Tennessee.
Reynolds had 22 points when he sprained his ankle late in the first half against Tennessee. He played through the injury, but there was considerable swelling in his ankle, “and I don’t even know if I could have played the next game if we had advanced,” Reynolds said recently. “It would have been tough.”
He’s heading into his 13th year as a professional –– “I stopped counting after 10,” Reynolds said –– and he’s played almost exclusively in Europe. Reynolds is returning in 2019-20 to Poitiers, a team that competes in France’s Pro B league. A city in western France, Poitiers is about 200 miles southwest of Paris.
Reynolds, who owns a home in Atlanta, stops by John Paul Jones Arena as often as his schedule allows. He turned 35 in May but doesn’t appear to have aged much since his college days. Any gray hairs?
“Yeah, I got a couple growing,” Reynolds said, laughing. “I keep ’em low.”
The highlights of our conversation follow:
Who pro leagues have you played in?
Reynolds: “I went to Italy my first year out of school, and I’ve also played in France, Israel, Poland, Turkey and Montenegro.”
How long does the season last in Europe?
Reynolds: “It just depends. One season I went over in August, and I didn’t get home till the second week of June.”
When you first went to Europe, did you think you’d come back to the United States and in the NBA one day?
Reynolds: “For sure. I thought that the first couple seasons. I never played [NBA] summer league, but I played three games in the D-League [in 2011-12]” –– now called the G-League –– “so I got a taste of it. But I decided it was not for me'”
So, you’ve enjoyed your time overseas?
Reynolds: “It’s been amazing. I can’t complain. It’s been the best experience for me. The talent level’s gotten a lot better over there, and you can have a great career. You see a lot of NBA guys going overseas now to play in Asia or Europe. There’s a lot of different opportunities for basketball players, so they shouldn’t feel discouraged if they don’t make it to the NBA, because there are different avenues to make money.”
Which former UVA players have you crossed paths with overseas?
Reynolds: “Travis [Watson], Elton Brown, Sylven [Landesberg], Devin Smith.”
What’s the most challenging part about playing in Europe?
Reynolds: “Probably the language barrier in different countries, and the culture. You’ve got to have an open mind to survive. It’s kind of tough, especially if you don’t have a family with you, being over there by yourself.”
Do you speak languages other than English?
Reynolds: “I speak a little French. I learned a little Italian, which was kind of easy for me, because I took Spanish in school, and they’re kind of similar.”
Of the countries you’ve played in, what’s your favorite, and why?
Reynolds: “Probably Israel. Just the weather, the beaches, the food, the people. After that, probably Italy and France.”
How long do you plan to keep playing?
Reynolds: “We’ll see. It depends on this body. I’m just trying to take care of it now. I’ll play this season, and we’ll how it goes from there.”
Do you keep up with your former UVA teammates?
Reynolds: “I try to keep in touch as much as possible. I talk to Mamadi [Diane] a lot, and Devin every once in a while. I talk to Travis, even though I didn’t play with him. Also T.J. Bannister, and me and Sean talk every once in a while.”
You did not play for Tony Bennett or his assistants, but it’s clear they consider you a valuable member of the UVA basketball family. What’s it like coming back to JPJ?
Reynolds: “Oh, man, it’s amazing. Coach Bennett is so welcoming, it feels like I played for him. That’s big to a former player, to feel welcomed like this when you didn’t even play for the guy. The whole staff has been amazing. Whenever I want to use the gym or the weight room, [strength and conditioning coach Mike] Curtis and everybody helps me out. It’s such a class act on their end, and it just makes you feel good to come back.”
What was it like following Virginia’s run to the NCAA title from Europe this year? France is six hours ahead of the East Coast.
Reynolds: “I caught every game. Usually I would go to sleep early and then just set my alarm, but sometimes I’d just stay up and watch it. For the championship game, I was too excited, so I just stayed up. I couldn’t go to sleep.”
You mentioned that you wore your UVA gear at practice during the NCAAs. Did you talk trash with your American teammates?
Reynolds: “For sure. All the time. I played with Warren Niles (Oral Roberts) and Ron Anderson Junior (South Florida), and I was talking stuff to them, because everybody was like, ‘[UVA is] going to be out in the first round’ and this and that, and I was like, ‘All right, you watch.’ “
Would you have believed UVA would one day win the NCAA title?
Reynolds: “Definitely. I just saw the video of an interview I did my senior year [of college], and I said that one day everybody’s going to be talking about Virginia. We’re going to be the number one school, and it happened.”