UConn’s Tarris Reed Jr. relishes chance to finish college career against Michigan in title game

INDIANAPOLIS — Coach Dusty May saw Tarris Reed Jr.’s potential on tape when he took the Michigan job. Reed just didn’t see any viable path to fulfill it with two 7-footers coming to Ann Arbor with May.

So the 6-foot-11, 265-pound St. Louis native stayed in the transfer portal, found a school willing to give him a fresh start and a coach committed to helping him turn raw talent into real productivity.

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Two years after giving up a starting job at Michigan to become a backup for a UConn team seeking a third straight national title, Reed’s journey will complete his college career against the university he called home for his first two college seasons in the championship game.

“We’re just chopping it up and talking a little bit, but like I said it’s the national championship on the line,” Reed said, referring to the two former Michigan teammates still on the Wolverines’ roster. “It’s not personal. We know it’s just competing for the best outcome of our team.”

The era of college players facing former teams in March Madness is becoming more routine in a college sports world where players often use their freedom to transfer to find more NIL money and more playing time with coaches and systems that better their natural skills.

Forward Nimari Burnett, Reed’s former teammate at Michigan, logged 17 minutes in a Sweet 16 matchup against his former team, Alabama. And Illinois guard Kylan Boswell could have faced his former team, Arizona, — if the semifinal results had been reversed.

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The reasons for finding new schools vary, and in Reed’s case it was all about opportunity.

“Tarris had heard that Vlad (Goldin) was probably going to be coming with us,” May said, explaining Reed’s decision. “So he came in, and I talked to his parents, and I talked to everyone around him and he basically said, ‘Coach, I know Vlad is coming with you. Do you think you can make that work?’ I said, ‘Tarris, you both are really good; it won’t be…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/uconn-tarris-reed-jr-relishes-150252531.html

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Publish date : 2026-04-06 15:02:00

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