STORRS – Dan Hurley doesn’t mince words when it comes down to the impact of Tarris Reed Jr. on this UConn men’s basketball team.
“I don’t know if he always likes to hear this, but Tarris is the difference between us winning this tournament,” Hurley said last week with his center right next to him on the dais at the Big East Tournament. “Tarris is the difference between us getting to the Final Four.”
Reed wasn’t at his best – no one was – in UConn’s 20-point loss to St. John’s in the championship game Saturday. By Sunday, just a few hours after the team bus got back to Storrs to see the NCAA Tournament bracket, the disappointment from the loss was still sticking with him. That wasn’t the first time he’s heard Hurley say what he said. And he understands that it’s true.
Unapologetic and firm in his faith, Reed opened up about how the game affected him. It was UConn’s second time losing a chance at a championship in the same week.
“I was just in my bed, laying down like, ‘Lord, what? Why? What is happening?’ It was just like a mental breakdown, sort of. It was tough, just so frustrating, so many different emotions you’re feeling. It’s uncomfortable,” he said. “Depending on my faith is gonna be the biggest thing. The Lord does everything for a reason. Continuing to fix my eyes and depend on Jesus. Keep that the main thing and, better days ahead.”
Reed has one last chance to hoist a trophy, cut down a net in college. He started his UConn career visiting during a championship parade, and he’d like to end it the same way.
In order for that to happen, he’ll have to be at his best for six games in a row.
“That’s the biggest thing for me, and I feel like I could do it. I have to do it, there’s no ifs, ands or buts about it. If we want to do what we’ve got to do, it starts with me. And we saw the other night that I didn’t show up. I didn’t do good enough and I have to. So I’ve got to put that game behind, learn from it, watch film, what I can take from it. Six games in a row, it starts Game One vs. Furman (late Friday night),” he said. “That’s my mindset: Be dominant. That’s what it has to be.”
Dominant center play was critical to UConn’s two championship runs in the last three years. It was Adama Sanogo and freshman Donovan Clingan in 2023; then sophomore Clingan and Samson Johnson in 2024.
Now it’s Reed, who’s had to transition into a bit of a Sanogo mold and alter his style of play from the habits he’d collected in two years at Michigan, and freshman Eric Reibe, who has been a good complement but still has room to grow.
“Tarris, he’s done a great job. He’s learned and he’s grown a lot in this program. Obviously as a transfer, it always takes time to adjust, but I think he’s adjusted perfectly fine. … He’s always confident, he always knows how great he is, he knows how special of a player he could be and he really doesn’t let outside noise phase him,” said Alex Karaban, who would like to extend his historic college career just a few more games. “He knows he’s got to be consistent, but that’s the same with everyone else, too. I’ve got to be consistent, everyone else has got to be more consistent.”
When Reed is on – like he was when he scored 20 points with 11 rebounds and six blocks in a 32-point win over the Johnnies in Hartford – the game comes easy to his teammates. He commands all the attention from his opponents, opening space for shooters and lanes for driving and cutting to the basket.
When he’s not, there is no extra space on the perimeter and feeding the ball inside is an unreliable option that often puts UConn’s turnover issues on full display. On defense, when he’s not in the right spot at the right time, you can count on either an easy basket at the rim or a foul.
“It’s the whole thing. He will be the difference in a lot of how this goes. Obviously the turnovers, you’ve got some other factors – the perimeter shooting can’t be ice cold like it’s gone from our best shooters. Tarris though, he’s the barometer,” Hurley said. “When he’s at his best, we could beat anybody in the country.”
The pressure on Reed’s shoulders is undeniable. If he’s not at his best, at this point it could spell the end of his college career.
But, he echoes the famous phrase first said by tennis great Billie Jean King: “Pressure is a privilege.”
“A lot of people have expectations on you (because) they see the amount of potential you have,” Reed said. “But it’s not all on me, it’s really about us as a team, us as a group. Once we’re all connected, all hitting on the right cylinders, it’s tough for any team in the country to beat us. … It’s going to start on that defensive end and just being really connected. We all understand the mission and we all understand the job at hand.”
