Niki Reid Geckeler is entering her fourth year at Howard University. Known as Coach G to her staff, players
and peers, Geckeler came to Howard after ten years at Georgetown University, where she served as an assistant
coach, recruiting coordinator and academic advisor with the women’s basketball team.
Under Coach G’s leadership, Howard garnered an appearance in the 2011 Women’s National Invitation
Tournament after leading the Lady Bison to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship game last
season against conference-rival Hampton. Entering into the 2011 MEAC Championship game, Coach G’s
team was second in the conference in scoring defense (54.6) and third in free throw shooting (68 percent), in
field goal percentage defense (37 percent) and turnover margin.
Within her three complete seasons of coaching at Howard, Coach G has propelled two players into the Lady
Bison 1,000 point club––Zykia Brown (1,255, 2007-10) and Saadia Doyle (1,098, 2009-11) who accomplished
the feat in a mere two years of play and added more than 500 rebounds to her career.
Under the guidance of Coach G, Brown and Doyle emerged as two of the greatest players to come out of
Howard and the MEAC. During the 2010-11 season Doyle was named the 2011 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Player of the Year and in the season prior she was named the 2010 MEAC Rookie of the Year. Last
season Doyle led the conference in scoring and joined Howard’s 1,000 point club in only two seasons of play.
Nationally, Doyle ranked No. 22 in with 13 double-double performances.
The careers of Cheyenne Curley-Payne and Tamoria Holmes were successful nurtured by Geckeler and
her staff, and the sophomores’ roles proved critical during the 2010-11 season. At the helm of the offense,
Curley-Payne quickly propelled herself as one of Howard’s all-time assist leaders as she currently ranks fifth
with 200. Holmes’ performance during the 2011 MEAC tournament ultimately helped the Lady Bison push
through to the championship game after stellar performances in the early rounds.
The 2008-09 Lady Bison more than doubled its win total from the previous year under Geckeler’s tutelage.
The Bison also produced a MEAC Defensive Player of the Week selection in Tamaya Daniels and Brown was
named to the 2009 All-MEAC Second Team. She also had eight players earn All-Big East All-Academic accolades.
Prior to joining the Georgetown coaching ranks Coach G served the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons as Associate
Head Coach at Fordham University.
Geckeler’s first year as the top assistant at Fordham (2002-03), the Rams had a ground-breaking year,
accomplishing a long list of firsts, including their first back-to-back Atlantic 10 road wins and their first fourgame
winning streak in Atlantic 10 play. Fordham also boasted two four-game winning streaks on the year
for the first time since 1994-95, swept an Atlantic 10 opponent for the first time since 1998-99, and picked
up their first-ever win at Saint Joseph’s. During her tenure at Fordham, two players, Mobolaji Akiode and
Monica Mack, were named Atlantic 10 Most Improved Player in 2003 and 2004, respectively.
As a player, Reid Geckeler was tri-captain of Georgetown’s 1992-93 team that advanced to the “Sweet 16” of
the NCAA Tournament and finished the season with a 23-7 record and a Top 25 ranking. The Hoyas were 15-3
in the Big East and took the regular-season conference championship. Geckeler finished her career as a fouryear
starter at point guard and upon graduating in 1993 with a degree in psychology, she left Georgetown as
the school’s leader in assists and three-point field goal percentage.
During her four seasons as a student-athlete, Reid Geckeler was honored with the Coaches’ Award as the
team’s Most Valuable Player in the 1991-92 season, was the recipient of the team’s Best Defensive Player
award for the 1990-91 campaign and was the winner of the Hustle Award in both 1989-90 and 1990-91.
Coach G and her husband, Timothy, have a 2-year old daughter, MaKenzie. The couple resides in Waldorf,