Vonn Read - Women's Basketball Coach - Syracuse University Athletics

Vonn Read

Title:
Associate Head Coach
Email:
vlread@syr.edu
Phone:
3761

Vonn Read, who joined the Syracuse staff prior to the 2011-12 season as an assistant coach, was named acting head coach for the 2021-22 season on August 4, 2021. Previously, Read has served as the associate head coach since Oct. 8, 2013.

As the Acting Head Coach for the 2021-22 season, his first time leading a program, Read guided the Orange to an 11-18 record with limited personnel and 4-14 slate in the Atlantic Coast Conference. He won his first game as a collegiate head coach on Nov. 10, 2021 with an 87-46 win over Monmouth at the Carrier Dome.

The Orange began the season 2-4 after three-straight losses at the Bad Boy Mowers’ Women’s Battle 4 Atlantis but seemed to turn a corner when Read reconstructed the offense to fit the team’s unique personnel which consisted of all guards and no true post players. The Orange rattled off six-straight wins at home, highlighted by a top-25 upset of No. 18 Ohio State in the B1G/ACC Challenge on Dec. 1 and set a program record for points in a game the following outing with a 116-65 win over Central Connecticut State four days later.

Beginning in December, five of Syracuse’s first six ACC opponents were nationally ranked to catapult the Orange into league play resulting in an 0-6 start. A home win versus Pittsburgh on Feb. 13 snapped the streak and the Orange went on to win three of their next five including a thrilling 67-65 win over Pitt on the road two weeks later. Syracuse closed the season with five-straight losses and a first-round exit in the 2022 ACC Tournament with an 88-69 loss to Clemson.

Under Read’s leadership, Syracuse finished its season ranked No. 4 in the nation in free throw percentage (.804) and was 23^rd in steals (294). The Orange led the ACC in free throw percentage, steals, steals per game (10.1), and was second in three-point field goals made (221), three-pointers per game (7.6), and turnovers forced (19.2).

Redshirt sophomore guard Teisha Hyman was named All-ACC Honorable Mention by the Blue Ribbon Panel extending the Orange’s streak of having an All-ACC guard for the seventh-straight season. Hyman finished the season ranked fifth in scoring in the ACC (15.9 ppg) and was the league leader in steals, steals per game and set a program record in steals in a game with 11 when she produced just the fifth triple double in school history with 27 points and 15 assists against CCSU.

Prior to being named the Acting Head Coach, Read helped develop the Orange’s defensive and offensive systems in his time on staff, which is predicated on creating more possessions, forcing turnovers, and maximizing points per possession. Syracuse saw the fruits of his labor during the 2015-16 season when it advanced all the way to the 2016 NCAA Tournament final for the first time in program history.

Prior to Syracuse, Read served as assistant coach at Albany from 2008-10 and at Kentucky from 2005-08. In his first season with the Wildcats, the team posted a win against top-ranked Tennessee and advanced to the 2006 NCAA Tournament.

Before his tenure at Kentucky, Read served as an assistant coach for the United States Basketball League’s Dodge City Legend in 2005, helping the team win the league title. He spent the 2004 WNBA season as an assistant coach with the San Antonio Silver Stars under former NBA standout Dee Brown.

Prior to his stop at San Antonio, Read spent five seasons with the Orlando Magic from 1999-2004. He worked in video scouting for the first two seasons in Orlando, then spent his last three years as an advance scout. In 2001, he served as an assistant coach for the team’s summer league squad, as well. While with the Magic, Read held various positions with WNBA teams. In 2003, he was an advance scout for the Charlotte Sting. Read was an assistant coach for the Orlando Miracle in 2002 and Phoenix Mercury in 2000.

Read got his start as a coach as an assistant at Spelman College in Atlanta from 1997-99. In his time at Spelman, he also worked at Turner Sports as a senior archivist and production assistant for NBA telecasts.

Prior to entering the coaching ranks, Read served in the United States Army from 1989-93 at Fort Drum, N.Y. and Fort Lee, Va.

A talented writer, Read has published six basketball playbooks, which are in a series called “The Basketball Encyclopedia.” He also has published numerous articles for various basketball publications.

A native of Milwaukee, Wis., Read graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science from Clark Atlanta in 1997, where he was a member of the tennis team. He resides in Syracuse with his wife, Cincereru, and son, Brandon, and has a daughter, April.