If there’s one word that best describes Stan Reynolds, it is fortitude.
At 5-feet-7, he played basketball at Manual High School and made all-city. His first experience with Colorado State College in Greeley ended in academic suspension. He later earned a master’s degree from the same school.
He was rushed into service as a basketball official while in the Army stationed in Germany without ever having called a game.
“I don’t think I called anything but out of bounds,” said Reynolds, 63. “The other official also was in the U.S. military, but he had officiated before. That was my first game.”
Reynolds got $15 for his trouble and a jump-start into a career as an official that is going strong at 41 years.
“When I first went to college, I was more interested in seeing my girlfriend, Wilma, (now his wife) and that was my fault, but Greeley wasn’t ready for black people back in 1965,” Reynolds said. “It was disheartening, but a different environment.”
The change from the comfort zone of high school to an unknown new life in college was an obstacle course. While he may not have had the answers then, they come much easier today. While officiating a basketball game at Colorado State this season, he worked with two other African-American referees.
“A player came up before the game and said he didn’t think he’d played in a game with an all-African-American officiating crew,” Reynolds said. “I told him the world is changing.”
Reynolds has been part of the changes, adapting to the moment.
“At first I was colored, then I became a Negro, then I became black and now I’m an African-American. Sometimes, I have to stop and figure out what I am,” he quipped.
When he played at Manual, teammates included notable names such as Dwight Nicholson, Anthony Booker and Harry Hollines. Reynolds played basketball, football and baseball for coaches Al Oviatt, Joe Strain, Earl Sandstedt and Hal Pfeifer. Reynolds was a quarterback in football and a pitcher in baseball.
His initial academic troubles at CSC brought his name to the attention of Uncle Sam, and he was drafted. But after serving his time in the military, he was ready to try college again. He returned to college and earned a bachelor’s degree at Metro State before returning to Greeley for his master’s. He eventually entered into elementary education in the Denver Public Schools, reaching the position of principal.
While a teacher, he also began his officiating career, first in the small towns in northeastern Colorado and later to the bigger high schools in Denver and its suburbs. From the high school assignments, Reynolds quickly moved up the ladder to the old Big Eight Conference, the Western Athletic Conference and the Mountain West Conference, calling games in historic arenas throughout the country, from The Pit in Albuquerque to Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan.
“I took my family when I officiated at Notre Dame,” Reynolds said. “It was awesome for them to see the Golden Dome and the campus.”
Reynolds officiated 18 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, working seven Elite Eight games, but has never gotten the call for a Final Four.
Although usually the smallest person on the floor, he has a take- charge manner when he calls a game.
“If I see a problem developing, I get right in the middle of it,” Reynolds said. “I’m going to end it before anything gets started.”
Reynolds has fortitude. He also has loyalty. One of his greatest pleasures is hearing “High Bolt” when he passes a fellow Manual Thunderbolts alum.
Reynolds bio
Born: Aug. 22, 1945, in Savannah, Ga.
High school: Manual
Colleges: Northeastern Junior College, Metro State College, Colorado State College (now Northern Colorado), University of Denver
Family: Wife Wilma; sons Shurwood, Sheldon
Hobbies: Classical music, watching old movie classics
Ambitions: Playing the piano and flying an airplane
Irv Moss, The Denver Post
