Tarris Reed could be a star under Juwan Howard at Michigan

On3 imageby:Chris Balas05/21/22

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Michigan basketball coach Juwan Howard hasn’t had any problem finding big men who want to play for him. Every one of them he’s recruited has improved dramatically in the post, and even guys he inherited like Austin Davis came a long way. 

RELATED: Michigan basketball recruiting – Where things stand

Tarris Reed should be the next in that lineage given how much he’s improved over the last two years. The Branson (Mo.) Link Year Prep big man (6-9, 230, On3.com No. 31 consensus player) has risen from fringe top-100 player to borderline five-star in the past year and a half. 

On3’s Jamie Shaw sees a guy who could play many years in the NBA with a bit of seasoning.

And now he can shoot the three, he added. 

“He’ll go back to the basket left and right hand or pick and pop trail three type stuff, as well. He continuously progressed from this time last year … and his confidence is really making it all come together,” he added.

All-around game makes Reed a great fit for Michigan, Juwan Howard

Appreciating him means examining his whole body of work and not just the “dynamic” plays, Michigan assistant Phil Martelli said. People tend to look at recruits on the whole, but Martelli believes Reed’s value is most evident in examining the small parts.

“He’s an incredible screener. He’s great at pivoting around the basket,” Martelli said. “He blocks out on every single play, and he shows on every ball screen. He’s vocal defensively.”

He isn’t going to power dunk on someone or score at will in the post like a Hunter Dickinson, he added, but his value will show in other ways. 

“He’s going to block out on every play, and he’s going to rotate defensively on every play,” Martelli added. “I just like the way he has been coached and the way he has accepted coaching, and he knows what he is. He’s a low post player in a game where that’s almost gone now. But he’s coming to a program and a coach who emphasizes that and knows how to use him.”

He’s got it all, in fact, to the point that he could be playing in the NBA down the road, Shaw said. He was reportedly in the 100th percentile in transition offensive efficiency this year — incredible for a guy his size — and ran the floor extremely well. He’d nail a trail three when defenses collapsed in transition, and when they didn’t, he’d often get to the post and use his array of moves to finish. 

He’s a throwback of sorts, and a perfect fit for Howard and Michigan. He admitted as much to reporters after the Iverson Classic. 

“Player development. Playing for Coach Howard, being in the NBA, playing my position — knowing what to do, knowing what it’s like,” Reed said in explaining his decision. “Playing for him will help me get to that next level.”

He saw it for himself at a practice on his official visit, in the stands when Howard was working one-on-one with his big men. He’d heard how the head coach was hands-on, but seeing it for himself helped Michigan move past Ohio State and others to land him. 

Making believers out of the analysts

In doing so, the Wolverines got one of the top big men in the 2022 class, Shaw believes. He does so much well — and works so hard at it — that there’s nowhere to go but up.

“He can rebound, and he knows his role,” he said. “He’s a low maintenance guy, and he can also shoot it. He’s one of those guys that, in the future, might go to the NBA as an undrafted free agent or late in the second round and just stick for 10 years. He can go right shoulder, left shoulder and finish through contact. He’s going to be a really, really good college player. 

“He’s also got toughness to him. He doesn’t care if he gets dunked on. He’s going to challenge shots, throw some elbows, do all that kind of stuff. He’s kind of like the [former 1990s Chicago Bulls big man] the Charles Oakleys of the world back then, that type of make-up.”

He’ll need to work on his lateral movement and continue his development athletically to become a plus defender. But Martelli sees no issue there. Like most of Howard’s recruits, Reed is determined. He has a one-track mind when it comes to his future.

“He’s another guy I think you’re going to have to lock the doors not let him get in there and work out all the time,” Martelli said. “He’s one of those ‘gym rats.’”

Reed and incoming freshman wing Jett Howard have already developed a friendship, and they can’t wait to get to Ann Arbor to help Michigan win games. It’s “never a bad thing” when Juwan Howard lands a big man to coach, Shaw said. The proof is in the bigs he’s developed not only at U-M, but during his time as an assistant with the Miami Heat.

Odds are Reed will become his latest success story, and there’s mutual excitement to get started.

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