STORRS – If Tarris Reed Jr. was put through a lie detector test last December and asked if his UConn coaches believed in him, Dan Hurley thinks he probably would’ve said no.
Reed, laughing at the idea, agreed.
There were fundamental techniques and communication issues that the staff was constantly on him about as they guided his development into an all-Big East-caliber center and the league’s sixth man of the year by the end of his first season with the Huskies.
“Last year I felt like Coach was attacking me,” he said. “But then you really take a step back after the season and this season I’m like, man, that’s love. Like he really wanted the absolute most out of me. And when this season ends, whenever my college career is done, what Coach Hurley and the coaching staff has done for me these two years is like … (I’m) forever grateful.”
There wasn’t much to get after Reed for on Friday, when the program opened its doors to donors and local media for the second time this summer. Save for the one 3-pointer he attempted and a pair of missed free throws, Reed was an unstoppable force as he finished with an unofficial 26 points in the scrimmage period and didn’t miss a field goal inside the arc.
The former Michigan Wolverine led the grey team, coached by UConn’s associate head coach Kimani Young, to a blowout, 73-36 win over first-year assistant Mike Nardi’s blue squad. It was grey’s first win in the three-game series as blue, led by Alex Karaban and Solo Ball, won by 10 and 12 points in the first two games.
Friday was also the first time fans got a look at freshman 7-footer Eric Reibe, the second piece of UConn’s two-headed monster at center who’d been resting after helping Germany to the championship game in the U19 FIBA World Cup. A different player than the bruising Reed, Reibe found his spots and scored 12 points, making both of his shot attempts from beyond the arc.
UConn freshman Eric Reibe, right, here playing for Germany in FIBA U19 World Cup early in the summer, will team up with Tarris Reed Jr. to give the Huskies a strong center tandem. (Courtesy of FIBA)
“Eric is super skilled. You can see the overseas game in him,” Reed said. “He can score at all three levels, overall just getting him ready for the physicality of the Big East because it shocked me last year in my first couple games.
“We’re gonna need him a lot this season and his skill is gonna give the defense a hard time because he can do so many things with the ball.”
Hurley imagines a minutes distribution at center similar to the 2022-23 national championship season, when Adama Sanogo started and played around 27 minutes per game and a freshman Donovan Clingan played 13, give or take a few.
“(Reibe is) going through what Donovan went through with Adama,” Hurley said. “I mean, Donovan got his ass kicked a lot that summer and then he started having days. … Adama was pretty relentless and ruthless, so that is what got Donovan ready for the type of freshman year he had. And I think Tarris is gonna do the same thing for Eric, because Tarris could be one of the two or three best big guys in the country based on his talent. So that’s what Eric’s gotta deal with.”
Reed has studied film of Sanogo since he was at Michigan. When he got to UConn, the main focus was on simplifying his game, channeling his talent for a more efficient play style – much of what made Sanogo, the most outstanding player at the 2023 Final Four, so dominant.
On Friday, as he caught lob passes from point guard Silas Demary Jr., finished through contact and generated second-chance opportunities on the offensive glass, he didn’t look far off. Reed, in fact, looked like a physical specimen; Hurley called him a freak.
“We measured him at 6-foot-10 and a half, 268 pounds, and he looks like he could weigh 220. He moves better than most guards laterally, running, vertical athleticism off the board, he checks every box,” Hurley said. “With him it’s motor, it’s intensity, it’s a warrior mentality, it’s discipline, it’s losing your technique and fundamentals at times. If this guy puts it all together, he’s as good a center as there is in the country. But he’s got to, for the first time in his career, we’ve got to help him put it all together.”
Had he not been able to recognize where Hurley’s demands were coming from during a tough winter, Reed could’ve easily found somewhere else to play, and be paid, this season. But, after the season, Hurley made his vision clear.
“Talking to Coach about my future here, where he sees me playing, where he sees me fit and how I can expand here,” Reed said. “I just have a lot more to prove. Coming back here, like what AK did, just a lot more to prove. And national championship, I don’t have one. So that’s the goal.”
Originally Published: August 8, 2025 at 3:31 PM EDT