Celebrating 100 years with MSU Texas: Love and basketball

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - News Channel 6 is celebrating a century with Midwestern State University and we’re continuing our tribute to the university’s past, present and future with a story of love and basketball.

We’re meeting two former students, now employees, who share a love for both the court and each other. It all started in the spring of 2006 when the MSU Texas men’s and women’s basketball teams rode together for an away game.

“We ended up watching a movie together on the bus on the way back, and that kind of really kickstarted it even further, and we just started hanging out even more,” Christopher Reay, MSU Texas Head Women’s Basketball Coach, said.

“Neither one of us are from here, I’m from Kansas originally,” Angie Reay, director of recreational sports and the Wellness Center at MSU Texas, said. “It’s kind of ironic that we both transferred here and that’s where we both ended up meeting.”

Angie and Christopher believe what helped them click was their competitiveness and love for the game.

“We both played basketball and we just understood each other and what it meant to be an athlete to where we weren’t going to step on either one of each other’s toes,” Christopher said.

“Even when she was working as an RA, she had to do office shifts in the dorms, so that was actually a convenient way for me to keep her occupied,” Christopher said. “I’d go and sit in the lounge, and we would just hang out and do homework together while she was doing the office shift. It was just kind of like built-in time together even though we were hanging out on campus.”

16 years later, the pair said they still take strolls around campus, but now as a family.

“We’re all about our kids and watching their experience,” Christopher said. “It’s kind of fun, they’re getting a head-start look at what college is like because we’re here all the time. Sometimes, even though they’re 10 and 8, they run around with the college kids and I think they think that they’re already in college at times.”

“It’s a great experience for them, they get to see what the fun part of college can be like and they know it’s a big part of our lives, that this is our job,” Angie said. “It’s been good, it’s been really good. We’re very thankful for everything MSU has done for us.”

All MSU Texas centennial celebration stories can be found by clicking here.

Copyright 2022 KAUZ. All rights reserved.