If there’s reason to believe Tarris Reed is going to be even better than advertised in college, it stems from a moment during his July official visit to Michigan. The more the 6-foot-10, 240-pound center watched, the more interested he got. Out on the floor, Juwan Howard, now 48 years old, but once a star center at Michigan, and once an 18-year player in the NBA, and once a big man coach in the NBA, was going through drills, showing what hands-on coaching really looks like.
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For 45 minutes, Howard, sweat on his brow, went through all the steps of how Michigan basketball develops its big men under his watch. Reed watched on. His eyes grew wide. This was when, after all the bells and whistles of a long recruiting process, and all the phone calls with coaches, and all the visits to other campuses, Reed saw what he wanted for his future.
“The No. 1 thing going through his process, he wanted to go somewhere where player development was top notch,” said Rodney Perry, Reed’s high school and grassroots coach. “Seeing Juwan in person, going step-by-step like that, that was huge.”
With that, Reed was sold.
On Thursday, the four-star center from Branson, Mo., announced his commitment to Michigan, joining four-star point guard Dug McDaniel as the second member of the Wolverines’ 2022 recruiting class. Though not official yet, that class can basically be penciled in as a three-man class presently, as Jett Howard, a four-star wing and son of Juwan, is seen as a foregone conclusion to head to Ann Arbor.
Reed checks the box of much-needed center in this recruiting class. He’s a big man who known he’s a big man. There are no delusions of being Kevin Durant. He has long wanted to play Big Ten basketball because it’s the most natural fit for a big-bodied post man who wants to play a physical brand of basketball.
Reed’s other possible college destinations were Ohio State, Michigan State and Purdue.
The fact Michigan beat out the Spartans and Boilermakers, two programs long known as havens for true big men, for someone like Reed, is a clear sign of new dynamics at play with Howard at the helm. Between Hunter Dickinson’s breakout freshman year in 2020-21 and Howard’s reputation as a developmental coach for post players, the program is suddenly a viable option for top bigs looking for NBA development.
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As for Ohio State, Reed was long considered as a Buckeye lean, but OSU recently snagged a commitment from Felix Okpara, a 6-11 center and Reed’s frontcourt mate on the Nike-sponsored Mokan Elite travel team.
Howard first saw Reed in the spring. The Michigan coach went to watch his son, Jett, play in a grassroots game but found his attention wandering to the opposing team’s center. It was Tarris Reed. That’s when the recruitment took off. Howard and assistant coach Howard Eisley ran point in the pursuit and helped Michigan quickly close ground on teams that had been pursuing Reed for far longer.
Reed’s size and overall skill set jumped out to Howard. Early in high school, when Reed attended Chaminade Prep in St. Louis, he was long and tall and looked like “a baby deer” with no coordination, according to Perry. He’s grown into his body and now can play with his back to the basket or facing up. He has good hands and a nice touch finishing around the basket. He presents some variety, being able to hit short shots and from the midrange. His 3-point shot is not exactly a strength, but it’s coming along and shows some potential. Defensively, he understands the game, is able to defend a screen and recover, can bang down low and eats space around the basket. Reed isn’t exactly an elite athlete, but he moves well and uses great length to be disruptive. On top of it all, he does the little things — runs hard, blocks out, sets good screens, presents himself in the post.
“The Big Ten loves big, physical guys that can bang,” Perry said. “The best thing about Tarris is that he knows what he is. He knows what he wants to do, as far as his future, and he’s most concerned with playing to his strengths and improving everything else.”
That’s why Howard and his staff narrowed their focus on the big man from Missouri over the course of this summer. After Reed’s official visit to Ann Arbor, one that included a trip to a local bowling alley (Reed’s father is a big bowler), the family requested a follow-up call with academic advisers to go over the school side of things for a second time. The Michigan staff, at this point, knew it had a legitimate shot at landing Reed. During one of the busiest weekends in the July live period, with most of the coaches in the country bouncing between Atlanta and Birmingham, Ala., Howard traveled to Omaha to see him play two games.
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With Dickinson expected to head to the NBA after his sophomore season in 2021-22 and Brandon Johns Jr. set to graduate next spring, it was crucial for Michigan to secure a 2022 center sooner rather than later. Until Reed’s commitment, current freshman Moussa Diabate was the lone potential center on the roster for the 2022-23 team. That’s no guarantee, though, as Diabate has so much upside that he could pursue the 2022 NBA Draft. Either way, Reed is likely to have a role at Michigan from day one.
As far as additional frontcourt signings go, Michigan still sees itself in the race for 7-foot-1 center Dereck Lively, one of the top overall 2022 prospects on the board, even though most onlookers in college basketball have long seen Lively ticketed for Kentucky.
Regardless of what happens with Lively or anyone else, Reed is a foundational piece for a 2022 class that will follow Michigan’s much-ballyhooed 2021 recruiting haul, one ranked as the best in the country. He has the potential to far outperform his rankings.
As a senior in high school, Reed will play for Link Academy in Branson, where Perry is in his first year as head coach. The school has built a roster loaded with top-100 recruits and will play a national schedule in 2021-22, including at least two games on ESPN.
(Photo: Drew Rich / Mokan Basketball)
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