Before Tarris Reed Jr. was a star for UConn, he was the last star of the Juwan Howard era at Michigan.
When the Wolverines and the Huskies face off in the National Championship on Monday night, the 6-foot-11, 265-pound senior will be the center of attention in UConn’s offense, just as he was in Ann Arbor two years ago.
Before transferring to UConn prior to the 2024-25 season, Reed played his freshman and sophomore years at Michigan. Mainly coming off the bench as a freshman, the St. Louis, Missouri
native averaged 12.6 minutes and 3.4 points per game. He made a big jump as a sophomore, starting 31 games and averaging nine points and 7.2 rebounds per game.
Reed showed the ability to improve every year, and he could have been a big-time starter for Michigan the last two seasons. However, when Howard was let go and Dusty May was hired, Reed didn’t believe there was a spot for him and he elected to go to UConn.
“(In) college basketball, there’s a rumor mill that you can find out just about anything you want to find out if you ask the right person, and he had heard that Vlad (Goldin) was probably gonna be coming with us (from FAU),” May told the media Sunday. “So he came in, and I talked to his parents. I talked to everyone around and he basically just said, ‘Coach, I know Vlad’s coming with you. Do you think you can make that work?’
“And I said, ‘Hey, Tarris, you both are really good. It won’t be easy. We haven’t played like that before, but I’m very confident that because of both of your skillsets and talent that we could figure it out. Now you’re gonna have to expand your game, but you know what, let’s stay in the gym, keep working, keep being around. Let’s see if this is right for you and right for us, and then we’ll revisit again in a week or two.’
“And then we ended up getting a commitment from Danny Wolf, and I think the writing was on the wall that this probably can’t work with three 7-footers. It would have been fun to try in hindsight.”
At UConn, Reed has developed into an all-league player. In the regular season, he led the Big East in field goal percentage (63.5 percent), averaging 13.6 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.1 blocks in conference play.
A lot has changed since his time in Ann Arbor. Michigan is a completely different team; only Nimari Burnett, Will Tschetter and Harrison Hochberg were teammates with him. As for Reed himself, he has established himself as an elite rebounder and post scorer, and as a player who can hit clutch shots and free throws en route to the National Championship.
“Just his presence is undeniable,” Burnett said after the win vs Arizona on Saturday night. “He’s hard to get out of the paint. He’s hard to guard. It’s hard to throw over him as well. So I understand the challenge that we’re going to have on Monday, and I mean, he was one of my favorite teammates of all time.
“…We’re still very much in touch, and I saw him at Fanfest on Thursday and getting to talk to him in person, you know, (it was) different, you haven’t talked in person in a while. So I’m just seeing him and seeing that big smile on his face that he always carries and having a chance to play against him, knowing the story that we had two years ago, is amazing.”
Reed has been playing the best basketball of his career during the 2026 NCAA Tournament. The Most Outstanding Player of the East Regional carried UConn in the Round of 64 with an impressive 31-point, 27-rebound performance against Furman. After a double-double against UCLA, he had 20 points and five rebounds against Michigan State and 26 points and nine rebounds against Duke.
“We’ve all just been waiting for this from him, this version of him,” UConn head coach Dan Hurley said. “He’s played as well as anyone has played in this tournament.”
Reed had 17 points and 11 rebounds against Illinois on Saturday night in the Final Four while going against a team that has four rotation players 6-foot-9 or taller. While he has continuously gotten better every season, he still thinks back to his Michigan days, struggling to put into words how far he and his teammates have come since the 8-24 season three years ago.
“I started my career in Michigan and now I’m about to play them in my final game of college basketball, so I never would have thought that would have happened in a million years,” Reed said. “How cool a blessing is that?
“I know a couple of guys on the team, but at the end of the day, it’s the game for the National Championship. It’s nothing personal. I know they’re going to come for my head; I’m going to come for their head. It’s going to be a fun, competitive game.”
The Final Four has been a reunion of sorts for old friends and teammates. But on Monday, everything will be on the line between the two programs where only one can be crowned champion.
