Michigan transfer big man Tarris Reed Jr. announced that he has committed to the UConn basketball program, and said that he wanted to join the winning culture that Dan Hurley has cultivated while winning back-to-back national championships.
“I chose UConn for its winning culture, commitment to player development and coaching style,” Tarris Reed Jr. said, via Joe Tipton of on3.com. “Coach Hurley's tough coaching style is known for punishing players into uncomfortable situations, making the uncomfortable seem comfortable. UConn provides the ideal setting and coaching for me to maximize my potential both on and off the court.”
Reed is entering his junior season after playing two years with the Michigan basketball program. He earned a starting role with the Wolverines after Hunter Dickinson left for the Kansas basketball program, and averaged nine points with 7.2 rebounds per game, according to Sports Reference. He hopes to develop more and take his game to the next level being coached by Dan Hurley and his staff. Reed joins a program that has not only proven to be great at developing players since Hurley's arrival at Storrs, but a program that is a proven winner as well.
How will Tarris Reed Jr. fit with UConn?
As far as a fit with the UConn basketball program, Reed should be able to get significant playing time this upcoming season. With Donovan Clingan announcing that he will be going to the NBA Draft, there is playing time opening up in a potential center rotation with Samson Johnson, who was a nice change of pace off of the bench in the 2023-2024 season.
Over the past two seasons, the center rotations have been arguably the biggest parts of UConn winning back-to-back national titles. In 2022-2023, it was Adama Sanogo with Clingan coming off of the bench. Then this past season, it was Clingan taking over the starting role with Johnson as the backup.
Johnson and Reed figure to be the main two players in a center rotation, although the minutes could be more evenly split between the two than they have been in the last two seasons. It could be an open competition when it comes to who starts, but there should be plenty of minutes for both players. Youssouf Singare could also factor in, but he has not earned much playing time at all in his career.
As mentioned before, Reed is entering a program that has shown to be very strong when it comes to developing players. The situation at Michigan was not very stable over the last two seasons, with Juwan Howard dealing with health issues and uncertainty with his job status as head coach of the program. Averaging nine points and 7.2 rebounds in that situation shows there could be something there to work with, and Hurley obviously sees something in Reed. He is a former four-star recruit, so there is talent there.
At UConn basketball, Reed will be able to focus on getting better this offseason under Hurley's staff, which features highly-touted assistants in Kimani Young, Luke Murray and Tom Moore.
The Huskies are likely to target shooting with former Indiana commit Liam McNeeley set to visit early next week. Hurley is still looking to add a bit more to his roster to try to go for a third national title in a row, but Reed is the first piece to fall in place.
Follow Us
Subscribe