Berks Bests: Rashida Suber Shattered Records at Reading High, Coppin State
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Editor's Note: This story is part of Berks Bests, a summer series spotlighting the all-time leading scorers from Berks County girls basketball programs. Throughout the summer, we'll revisit some of the greatest careers in local basketball history and catch up with the players who left their mark on their schools and communities.
Rashida Suber was a local legend long before she helped end a 15-year Berks County championship drought as the Reading High girls basketball head coach in 2025.
The coaching accomplishment was a rare first for Suber, who became the Red Knights head coach in 2020 after six seasons as an assistant. It's hard to find milestones she hasn't accomplished in her basketball career at the Castle on the Hill and beyond.
As a kid, Suber sharpened the skills that turned her into a professional basketball player in Reading through the Police Athletic League and countless pickup games in the city, many times against the boys.
She also found inspiration in some of basketball's biggest stars at the time.
"I really watched Allen Iverson and was heavy on the AND1 Mixtapes," Suber said. "I would try to add that to my game."
She also admired WNBA legends Sheryl Swoopes and Cynthia Cooper.
Suber played varsity right away as a ninth grader at Reading High. By the time she graduated in 2004, her resume was loaded.
She scored 2,111 career points, most in Reading High's storied basketball history — boys or girls. That scoring total is fourth all-time in Berks Girls League history. Only six Berks girls have ever reached 2,000 career points.
Suber proudly looks back on the point totals, but it was the winning that she enjoyed most. She won county titles in her junior and senior seasons. And, she says, the longer seasons with more games and opportunities correlated with her being able to put up the gaudy point total.
"I knew I had a chance to reach the milestone since I played varsity as a freshman," Suber recently said to BGB. "Ultimately the thought of playing a longer season meant I could score more. This wasn’t on my goal list. If we get to counties, districts, states, that’s a lot of games each year. Of course it would add up."
Suber also remembered overcoming the difficult times, with one defining moment rising to the top of her mind.
"I had a bad game against McCaskey and we lost," Suber said. "My coach called me out in the newspaper. In his defense, rightly so. It was a big deal for me to redeem myself, and I think the next game I had a triple-double."
The experience became one of many lessons that shaped her career and taught her how to rise above adversity.
"Playing at Reading High taught me resilience, to always have tough skin," Suber said. "It taught me that good people come out of Reading, about community, being impactful, and that it takes a village to help the youth."
Suber continued rising and her success didn't stop once she got to college at Coppin State. There, Suber built on her scoring proficiency and etched her name into another record book.
From 2004-08, she scored a program-record 1,865 career points, averaging 15.1 points over 123 games. She still owns school records for 3-pointers made (245) and steals (307), while also ranking seventh all-time with 272 assists.
Her individual dominance again resulted in team success.
The Eagles went 92-37 overall during her tenure, including an astounding 64-6 mark in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) play. Coppin State captured three NCAA Tournament berths during her career (2005, 2006 and 2008).
As a junior, Suber was named the 2007 MEAC Player of the Year after previously earning MEAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors in 2006. She was a three-time First Team All-MEAC selection and earned conference All-Rookie Team honors as a freshman.
Suber was inducted into the Coppin State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2020 before earning another prestigious honor five years later with her induction into the MEAC Hall of Fame.
Following graduation from Coppin State with a bachelor's degree in Applied Science in May 2008, Suber received an invitation to WNBA training camp before playing professionally overseas in Turkey and Puerto Rico from 2008-10.
Today, Suber serves as Reading High's girls basketball head coach while also working as a Property Maintenance and Blight Inspector for the City of Reading.
Although she owns one of the most decorated resumes in Berks County basketball history, she hopes her players remember something other than the numbers beside her name.
It's the numbers on the championship banners hanging in the Geigle Complex and Physical Education Complex (formerly the Coppin Center).
"I think the most vivid memories are winning counties," Suber said of her high school playing days. "I believe one year we had to play Wilson at least eight times, and they were always competitive."
For someone whose name sits atop record books in both Reading and Baltimore, the points earned her a place in history.
The team success is what she remembers most.
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