Reggie Theus begins his first year as Head Coach of the Sacramento Kings. Prior to signing on as the 21st head coach in Kings franchise history, Theus spent the past two years as the head coach at New Mexico State.

Theus, who played 13 years in the NBA and was a member of the 1985 inaugural Sacramento Kings, is fresh off the heels of leading New Mexico State to a berth in the NCAA Tournament (a first for the school since 1999). He compiled a 41-23 record in his two years with the Aggies. In his first year at the helm of the NMSU program, Theus guided the Aggies to a tie for the fifth-best turnaround in all of Division I basketball and the best single-season improvement of any NMSU squad since the 1985-86 season. He turned around a program that went 6-24 the year before he arrived (2004-05), leading the team to a 16-14 record, including wins over rival New Mexico and NCAA Tournament participants Pacific and Utah State. Theus' Aggies improved to 25-9 last season, winning the Western Athletic Conference Tournament.

Under Theus, NMSU also saw dramatic improvement in conference play as the Aggies went 10-6 in their first season as a member of the WAC. The nine-win improvement in conference play over the 2004-05 season was the Aggies’ biggest single-season turnaround in school history. The Aggies swept three conference season series (Idaho, San Jose State, Utah State) while taking two of three meetings from Hawai’i and advancing to the conference championship semifinals.

Prior to his NMSU assignment, Theus spent two seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Louisville under head coach Rick Pitino. While at Louisville, he was an integral part of the Cardinals’ run to the Final Four, the 2005 Conference USA regular season and tournament titles while helping lead the program to back-to-back 20-win seasons and a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. In 2004-05, Theus helped guide Louisville back to the Final Four for the first time since their national title run in 1986.

Along with being an excellent teacher on the practice floor, Theus was also Louisville’s top recruiter, helping the Cardinals sign a handful of the nation’s top high school players. In spring 2005, Rivals.com named Theus among the top 25 recruiters in the nation. He coached current Kings swingman Francisco Garcia at Louisville.

A native of Los Angeles, and an Inglewood High School graduate, Theus was able to utilize a vast network of connections throughout the region to help Louisville land national letters of intent from four highly recruited prep players on the West Coast, an area in which Pitino and Louisville had never recruited before Theus’ arrival.

Theus’ coaching resume includes a variety of diverse experiences. Before joining Pitino’s staff at Louisville, Theus spent a year as a volunteer assistant at Cal State Los Angeles. He also gained coaching experience as the head coach of the Southern California All-Stars (17-and-under AAU Team) and as a summer league coach for the Philadelphia 76ers and the Denver Nuggets.

In the spring of 2002, Theus led the Las Vegas Slam of the American Basketball Association to the Western Conference finals where they lost to eventual champion Kansas City.

Before turning his attention to the coaching profession, Theus' 13 years as a player in the NBA were spent with the Chicago Bulls, Kansas City/Sacramento Kings, Atlanta Hawks, Orlando Magic and New Jersey Nets. After being drafted as a junior out of UNLV by the Bulls as the ninth overall pick in 1978, Theus finished runner-up in the NBA Rookie of the Year voting to Kansas City’s Phil Ford and was named to the 1979 All-Rookie team. He averaged 16.3 points per game, leading all rookies in scoring that season.

Theus played for the Kings for five seasons (1983-84 to 1987-88), averaging 18.8 points, 8.1 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game through 346 contests. He's ranks fourth on the Kings all-time assists list (2,809).

Theus is one of only seven players in NBA history to score at least 19,000 points and dish out 6,000 assists, joining John Havlicek, Oscar Robertson, John Stockton, Gary Payton, Clyde Drexler and Jerry West with that distinction. When Theus retired, he ranked 22nd on the NBA’s all-time scoring list with 19,105 career points and 11th on the all-time assists list with 6,453 career assists. Over his 13-year career, Theus averaged 18.5 points, 6.3 assists and 3.3 rebounds a game while being named to the 1981 and 1983 NBA All-Star teams.

In 1992-93, Theus spent one season playing professionally in Italy with Ranger Varese. In 30 games with Ranger, he averaged 29.3 points, 5.4 assists and 3.9 rebounds a game. Theus was the league’s second-leading scorer and leader in assists that season.

After retiring from professional basketball in 1993, Theus spent nearly a decade as an actor and television sports broadcaster. He served as an NBA analyst for Turner Sports, ESPN and was a co-host on the Fox Sports Net program “The Best Damn Sports Show Period.”

Theus’ extensive acting credits include playing Coach Bill Fuller for three years on NBC’s hit Saturday morning television show “Hang Time.”

Theus played his college basketball at UNLV for head coach Jerry Tarkanian from 1976 to 1978. In three seasons with the Runnin’ Rebels, he averaged 12.9 points, 4.4 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game. Theus, who became one of the best players to ever don a UNLV uniform, shot 81 percent from the free-throw line for his career while amassing 1,177 career points (21st on all-time scoring list), 401 career assists and 389 career rebounds in just 91 collegiate games.

In 1989, Theus was inducted into the UNLV Athletic Hall of Fame and in 1997 he became one of only six players in school history to have his jersey retired by the Rebels.

Along with a successful career as both a player and coach, Theus has also been an influential member of the communities where he and his family have lived. Among the charitable programs which have benefited from Theus’ involvement are the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse, spokesperson for the NBA’s Stay in School Program, and Reggie Theus’ Trikes for Kids.

Theus and his wife Elaine have three children; Raquel, Reggie and Rhyan.