Former University of North Carolina basketball standout Brian Reese has joined the High Point University men's basketball staff as assistant coach, head coach Scott Cherry has announced. Reese and Cherry were teammates on UNC's 1993 national championship team.

"Brian is a tremendous addition and brings a wealth of knowledge to our staff," said Cherry. "He came out of high school as a McDonald's All-American, helped lead us to the national championship in 1993 and was an extremely gifted basketball player. I know on the basketball side of it, he can really help our players develop. With his professional experience, he will be able to teach our players the things they need to do to be successful at the next level."

"He'll be very involved in recruiting and his ties to the New York City area and up and down the East coast will bring us an added dimension," Cherry added. "Brian brings us an area of the country that we're certainly going to try to get into."

A 1994 graduate of North Carolina, Reese played under Hall of Fame head coach Dean Smith. Reese and Cherry were teammates for three seasons at UNC.

"This is a great opportunity for me, I'm very excited to join the staff and work under Coach Cherry at High Point University," said Reese. "Coach Cherry was my roommate in college and I know his family very well. I'm excited to help bring kids to HPU and to help coach the team. The opportunity to build a basketball program here is great. Dr. Qubein and the HPU staff have done so much at High Point and, in the short time I've been here, I've been received with open arms."

Reese played in 134 games over four seasons for the Tar Heels, averaging 8.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game while shooting over 50 percent for his career. He was the 40th player in UNC history to score at least 1,000 points in his career, finishing with 1,113. His best season was UNC's national championship year of 1992-93, when he averaged 11.4 points and 3.6 rebounds per game to help lead the Tar Heels to their third NCAA title.

After graduating from North Carolina, Reese spent the summer and preseason with the Milwaukee Bucks. He played professionally in Austria, Belgium, the Dominican Republic, England, Finland, Iceland, France, Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Puerto Rico. During his professional career, he was frequently honored as Most Valuable Player and led his team in scoring.

Reese joins the Panthers after one season as an assistant coach at Wingate University, where he helped the Bulldogs improve to 14-14. Prior to his time at Wingate, Reese spent one season as the head coach of varsity boys' basketball at South Iredell High School in Statesville, N.C., and two seasons as JV head coach and varsity assistant coach at Porter Ridge High School in Indian Trail, N.C.

Reese has spent 14 years as a coach and counselor for the Carolina Basketball Camps. He was also a volunteer coach for four months with the 2XSALT ministry founded by Bobby Jones, David Thompson and Bart Kofoed.

Reese graduated from UNC with a degree in Communications with a minor in African-American Studies in 1994. Originally from Bronx, N.Y., Reese attended St. Nicholas of Tolentine High School where he was a McDonald's All-American.