Michigan Basketball: A blue blood competitor for Tarris Reed?
Michigan basketball has focused on Tarris Reed Jr. in recent weeks as a priority in the 2022 recruiting class but another blue blood could jump in the mix.
Juwan Howard has had a lot of success recruiting big men during his first couple of years as the Michigan basketball coach and the next big guy in his sights is Tarris Reed.
Reed is from St. Louis, Missouri, and with his play at the Peach Jam, he’s starting to blow up on the recruiting trail. Reed is 6-foot-10 and ranked 71st overall in the 247 sports composite rankings and he’s also been described as an ideal big man for the Big Ten.
That makes sense because Michigan basketball, Ohio State, Purdue, and Michigan State have been among the favorites and also made up his four official visits in June with Michigan getting the last one.
The visit to Ann Arbor impressed Reed according to Chris Balas of Rivals and of course, he was impressed with Juwan.
"“He loved Juwan and the fact that he had obviously played and coached at the NBA level, specifically at the position Tarris plays,” MoKan program leader Matt Suther said. “Juwan spends time working with the frontcourt himself.”"
After a solid weekend in which Reed led the MoKan Elite to a 5-2 record, he poured it on Tuesday scoring 21 points, grabbing nine rebounds, and making all nine of his field goal attempts according to Jake Weingarten of Stockrisers.com. Reed also updated his recruitment:
"“Michigan, Purdue, Ohio State, and Michigan State. All schools I took a visit in June. And are all at the same conference. They’re great schools and each of them has something unique about them. Going to take my time and choose a school that is the best fit for me.”"
Yet, Reed also said that Kentucky was in touch with him and if the Wildcats offered that could cause a shift in this recruitment.
It’s hard to know what to make of Kentucky’s interest though. Five-star center Dereck Lively, a top-10 recruit, is considered a Kentucky lean and while Michigan basketball is doing what it can, if Lively goes to UK, it’s hard to see how Reed fits in.
Reed has talked about making his decision shortly after the Peach Jam and the sooner the better for Michigan basketball.
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Development and getting to the NBA is super important to Reed but that’s not a bad thing for the Wolverines. In fact, the impact of Hunter Dickinson should be a prime example of what Juwan can do for Reed and as long as he doesn’t delay his decision until the fall, I like U-M’s chances.