Arizona "AZ" Reid III (born March 11, 1986) is an American professional
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
player. He was the 2006–07
Big South Conference
The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), ...
Player of the Year, 2007–08 Preseason Player of the Year, and the 2007–08
Big South Conference
The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), ...
Player of the Year.
Family
He is the son of Arizona Reid Jr. and Tressa Smith. AZ has three brothers (Jarron Reid, Tyson Miller and Tyshone Reid) and two sisters (Kesha Smith and Tyshennia Reid). His cousin, Roosevelt Dawkins played basketball at
College of Charleston
The College of Charleston (CofC or Charleston) is a public university in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, it is the oldest university in South Carolina, the 13th-oldest institution of higher lea ...
.
Reid came to High Point from
Gaffney, South Carolina
Gaffney is a city in and the county seat, seat of Cherokee County, South Carolina, United States, in the upstate South Carolina, Upstate region of South Carolina. Gaffney is known as the "Peach Capital of South Carolina". The population was 12,53 ...
, where he was a four-year varsity player at Gaffney High School and was featured in numerous basketball magazines, such as ''SLAM''. Notable high school teammates include NFL wide receiver
Sidney Rice
Sidney Raynard Rice (born September 1, 1986) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a wide receiver for seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Rice played college football for the South Carol ...
, who played for the
University of South Carolina
The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...
, made the Pro Bowl in 2009 with the
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...
, and won the Super Bowl in 2013 with the Seahawks, as well as Donald Sims, a standout player at
Appalachian State University
Appalachian State University (), or App State, is a Public university, public research university in Boone, North Carolina, United States. It was founded as a normal school, teachers' college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and th ...
.
College
A 6'5"
power forward
The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...
for the Panthers, Reid is undersized and relies on his drive to get to the boards over players that have been a half a foot taller than him.
In the 2007–2008 season, he became the first player in Big South history to reach the 1,800 point/900 rebound club. On February 18, 2008, Reid became the all-time leader rebound leader in Big South Conference history when he grabbed his third rebound against Coastal Carolina. Days later he joined an elite NCAA club of 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in a collegiate career. At the close of the 2007-08 basketball season, Reid is only one of fewer than 100 men's players to ever achieve these milestones together.
On February 24, 2007, in High Point's final regular season game, Reid finished with a career-high matching 32 points and a personal best 25 rebounds vs.
Virginia Military Institute
The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is a public senior military college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1839 as America's first state military college and is the oldest public senior military college in the U.S. In k ...
. The 25 boards set a new
Big South Conference
The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), ...
Coastal Carolina University
Coastal Carolina University (CCU or Coastal) is a public university in Conway, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, ...
’s Moses Sonko (earlier that season). It was also an HPU program Division I record. Reid finished the 2006–07 season with a league leading 13
double-double
In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the ter ...
s.
Arizona led High Point to a school record 22–10 season with his 21.6 points per game and 9.6 rebounds per game during the 2006-07 regular season.
He ranked first in the BSC in rebounds and is the second leading scorer, averaging 21 points and 9 rebounds per game. Reid was one of only two players in the nation to average 21 points and 9 rebounds. (The other player was
Kevin Durant
Kevin Wayne Durant (born September 29, 1988), also known by his initials KD, is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Durant has won two List of NBA champions, NBA champ ...
)
Monday February 26, 2007 Arizona Reid was named the 2006-07 Big South Conference Player if the Year. (He received 21 first-place votes from the panel and 283 total points.)
Senior year
Reid captured Big South Conference Player of the Year laurels for the second time and became the third student to win the prize in consecutive seasons. He also garnered First Team All-Big South honors for the third straight year and was named Second Team All-District 5 by the NABC and first-team All-State by NCCSIA. The league's career rebounding leader (1,013), Reid became the 97th student in college basketball history and the first Big South performer to reach 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career. Reid led the conference in rebounds (11.0 rpg.) and ranked second in scoring (23.9 ppg.). He stands sixth nationally in both categories. Reid was a first team All-State selection in 2006-07 as well. Reid finished his career as the Big South's fourth ranked career scorer and he ends his historic HPU career with 2,069 points. He was also the first Conference performer to average over 20 points and 10 rebounds per game.
AZ Reid was invited to play in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament (P.I.T.), he led his team K&D Round's Landscaping to a 3rd-place finish.
On May 3, 2008, Reid graduated from High Point University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Recreation Management.
Professional career
On August 24, 2008, Reid signed a contract to play professional basketball in Italy with
Pallacanestro Varese
Pallacanestro Varese, also called by its current sponsor's name, the Openjobmetis Varese, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Varese, Lombardy. Founded in 1945, the team plays in the Italian basketball league system, Italian first ...
without playing any games.
In December 2008, he signed a contract to play in Switzerland with
Geneva Devils
Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
.
In August 2009, he signed a contract to play in Finland with
Korihait
Korihait () is a Finnish basketball team from Uusikaupunki. It was formed as Uudenkaupungin Urheilijat, shortly UU, in 1898 and has won one Korisliiga
The Korisliiga is the top-tier professional basketball league in Finland, comprising the top ...
.
On August 10, 2010, it was announced Reid had signed to play for the Cairns Taipans in Australia for the 2010–11 season. However, a month later, he was sacked by the Taipans after he was charged with drink-driving.
On September 24, 2010, he signed a contract to play professional basketball in Lebanon with
Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut
Al Riyadi Club Beirut (), commonly known simply as Al Riyadi, is a multi-sports club team based in Manara, a district in Beirut, Lebanon. Founded in 1934, the multi-sports club, which is mainly known for their basketball program, also plays p ...
playing 6 matches.
At the end of 2010 he returned to Switzerland to play the rest of the season with BBC Monthey.
Reid joined the
Rain or Shine Elasto Painters
The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association owned by Asian Coatings Philippines, Inc. It debuted in the league in the 2006–07 PBA season after acquiring the franchise righ ...
of the
Philippine Basketball Association
The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines, composed of twelve company-branded Franchising, franchise teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia ...
, the first and oldest professional basketball league in
Asia
Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
, as an import for the 2011 Governors Cup. He was awarded as the best import of the conference even though Rain or Shine did not make the finals.
In 2012, he returned to Switzerland to play for Benetton Fribourg Olympic.
In 2014, he returned to the PBA and he was awarded as the Bobby Parks Best Import of the Conference. He lift the
Rain or Shine Elasto Painters
The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association owned by Asian Coatings Philippines, Inc. It debuted in the league in the 2006–07 PBA season after acquiring the franchise righ ...
to the
finals
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
.
On July 9, 2014, he signed with VOO Wolves Verviers-Pepinster of Belgium for the 2014–15 season. In February 2015, he left Pepinster and signed with
San Miguel Beermen
The San Miguel Beermen are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). It is one of three PBA clubs owned by the San Miguel Corporation group of companies along with Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and Magnolia ...
of Philippines.
On July 17, 2015, Reid finally got his first PBA Championship trophy (as a Beermen) after 4 years playing in the PBA. He helped the Beermen win via a 4–0 sweep against the Alaska Aces in the 2015 Governor's Cup Finals. It was San Miguel's second crown of the 2015 season and 21st in total franchise history.
In October 2015, Reid officially joined Pacquiao Powervit Pilipinas Aguilas (now the Pilipinas MX3 Kings) as an import in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) which is set to start on Oct. 27, 2015. In February 2016, he was replaced by Will Creekmore.
In April 2016, Reid returned to San Miguel as the team's import, replacing Tyler Wilkerson. He played only one game for the team in the
2016 PBA Commissioner's Cup
The 2016 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner's Cup, also known as the 2016 Oppo-PBA Commissioner's Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the second conference of the 2015–16 PBA season. The tournament allowed teams to hire forei ...
: a 99–124 loss against the
Rain or Shine Elasto Painters
The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association owned by Asian Coatings Philippines, Inc. It debuted in the league in the 2006–07 PBA season after acquiring the franchise righ ...
in the
2016 PBA Commissioner's Cup
The 2016 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner's Cup, also known as the 2016 Oppo-PBA Commissioner's Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the second conference of the 2015–16 PBA season. The tournament allowed teams to hire forei ...
semifinals, which ended his
team's conference. However, Reid would return to the team for the
2016 PBA Governors' Cup
The 2016 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors' Cup, also known as the 2016 Oppo-PBA Governors' Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the third and last conference of the 2015–16 PBA season. Due to the preparations of the Philippines ...
as the team's import once again. He returned for the third time in July 2018 as the team's import for the 2018 PBA Governors' Cup.
On November 7, 2017, Reid signed with
Leuven Bears
Leuven Bears, for sponsorship reasons also called Stella Artois Leuven Bears, is a Belgium, Belgian professional basketball club from Leuven. The club competes in the BNXT League, the highest tier in Belgian basketball.
History
The team has played ...
. Reid averaged 14 points and 6.9 rebounds per game in Belgium. He signed with San Miguel again on August 9, 2018.
On October 26, 2018, Reid returned to
Monthey
Monthey (; ) is the capital of the district of Monthey in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.
History
The castle in the town center was built in 950 on a hill, the first houses of Monthey surrounded it. Monthey is first mentioned in 1215 ...
for a second stint. In 27 games played for Monthey, he averaged 17.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.1 steals per game.
On August 18, 2019, Reid signed with
Elitzur Eito Ashkelon
Elitzur Eito Ashkelon () is a professional basketball team based in Ashkelon in south west Israel. The club currently plays in Liga Leumit (basketball), Israeli National League.Israeli National League for the 2019–20 season.