UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO ATHLETICS
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Former University at Buffalo women’s basketball standout Stephanie Reid signed her first professional contract in her native Australia last week. Reid becomes the second Bull in the last two seasons to sign a professional contract as JoAnna Smith signed in Portugal after her UB career a season ago.
The Melbourne, Australia native inked a contract to play for the Frankston Blues of the South East Australian Basketball League, the highest women’s basketball league in all of Australia. Reid played for the same organization during her junior career for about eight seasons as the club plays just 10 minutes away from the Reid residence.
“Stephanie Reid will forever be remembered as the point guard that believed in Buffalo and came here and created change,” said head coach Felisha Legette-Jack. “From day one, her mission was to leave Buffalo in a place where the world would know about the women’s basketball program and she accomplished that. Taking our team to the Sweet 16 is an incredible feat that no other SUNY school in basketball, men or women, has ever reached. I will miss her intensity, passion, commitment to winning, every day and whoever she plays for is getting a complete player that will continue her journey of winning.
Reid wrapped up her four-year playing career this past season in impressive fashion as she was the catalyst behind the Bulls epic run to the Sweet 16. The gritty defender and distributor will go down as the best point guard in program history as she set the all-time record for assists in a career with 681 helpers, breaking the previous school record by more than 100 assists while playing only three and a half seasons.
The three-time All-MAC team performer will always be remembered for her game-winning buzzer beater in the 2016 MAC Championship game to send the Bulls to their first-ever NCAA Tournament. She also became the first UB player to earn MAC Tournament MVP honors after helping the Bulls make a historic run from the eighth seed to the big dance.
Reid finished off her Buffalo career with 1,218 career points, 681 career assists, 366 career rebounds and 218 career steals as she is the only player in school history to notch 1,000+ points and 600+ assists. Her 1,218 career points are the 11th most in school history while her 681 assists are the seventh most in MAC history.
The vocal leader for the Bulls also closed out her impressive time at Buffalo as the only UB player to earn MAC All-Defensive team honors three times. As a Second Team All-MAC member last season, Reid averaged a career-best 12.1 points, 6.8 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.9 steals while also connecting on a career-best 35.5% from behind the arc and 81.0% from the charity stripe.
Reid is set to report to the Blues on May 27 with her professional debut coming on June 1.