Longtime Decatur High, Georgia State basketball coach Reinhart dies at 87
Bob Reinhart, who led Decatur High School basketball to three state titles, coached Georgia State basketball to its first NCAA tournament appearance and spent two seasons as an assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks during the Dominique Wilkins era, died Monday, according to his family. He was 87.
Robert Reinhart, an Indiana native born June 21, 1938, moved to Georgia in 1965 to join Decatur’s staff. He worked under then-head coach and lifelong friend Roger Kaiser for four seasons before taking over the program.
Reinhart won a state title at Decatur in his first season as head coach in 1970. He coached there for 14 years, also winning state championships in 1982 and 1984. His son, Bobby Reinhart, played for him on the 1982 state championship team.
Reinhart left Decatur in 1984 to join the Atlanta Hawks’ coaching staff for two seasons and then went on to a nine-year tenure as Georgia State’s basketball, leading the Panthers to a Trans America Athletic Conference Tournament title and their first NCAA Tournament berth in 1991.
Reinhart’s nine years at Georgia State is still the longest tenure of any coach in program history.
“Georgia State, as a mid-major program in the Atlanta market, really has to have a big name and a personality in its basketball coach, and Bob was that for Georgia State,” longtime Georgia State broadcast director and play-by-play announcer Dave Cohen said. “I told people over the years that I think Bob was the first significant hire in Georgia State athletics history.”
Reinhart, who continued to live in Atlanta until his death, worked as an NBA scout for years after retiring from coaching. He was inducted into the Atlanta Sports Hall of Fame and the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.
Son Bobby Reinhart coached at Decatur like his father before moving to Tampa, Florida, years ago. The distance and lack of basketball shifted their bond to another sport — golf.
Bobby and his father were members at Hidden Hills Golf Course in Stone Mountain when he was growing up. The two would walk nine holes almost every day during the basketball offseason.
Bob and Bobby continued to play golf together when they visited each other.
“He would come down the week of Thanksgiving, and we would play every day,” Bobby Reinhart recalled. “I would make him take Thanksgiving Day off just because I couldn’t keep up with him physically.
“Most of our get-togethers over recent years were surrounding golf.”
Golf wasn’t only a big part of Bob’s relationship with his son. He also used it to stay connected with Kaiser and his wife, Beverly.
Kaiser and Reinhart grew up on the same street in Dale, Indiana, played basketball together in high school and then coached together at Decatur.
Kaiser said he didn’t see Reinhart as frequently as he used to in their basketball days, but he could always count on Reinhart’s presence at the Kaisers’ annual golf tournament, which raises funds for cerebral palsy research. The Kaisers help run the Alexis Kaiser Foundation, a nonprofit named after their granddaughter, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at a young age.
“Last year, we hit $1 million of providing for children with special needs,” Beverly Kaiser said. “Bob was the leader of it.”
Reinhart’s daughter, Kelly Baker, remembered a different kind of story about her father, unrelated to basketball or golf. Reinhart showed ultimate dedication to his wife, Jane.
Jane Reinhart was transferred to an Emory nursing facility in December 2016 after a bad fall caused a traumatic brain injury. She remained in the facility until she died in October of 2022.
“He was there every single day,” said Baker, who added that when COVID-19 restrictions didn’t allow Reinhart in the facility, he stayed on the front porch. “Talk about a diligent, loving, caring husband, because let me tell you, that was so tiresome.”
Bob Reinhart had four grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
“He said he lived a good life, and he’d do it all over again,” Baker said.
About the Author
Jack Leo is a sports writer and reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Jack worked for the AJC throughout his four years studying journalism and sports media at Georgia State University and the University of Georgia. He's now focused on telling stories in the grassroots: bringing comprehensive coverage of high school sports for AJC Varsity.
