UConn's Tarris Reed Jr., Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
As the 2025-26 college basketball season rounds its final turn and braces for the madness of March, the possibility of a historic run for the UConn Huskies men’s team grows more and more real.
If it were to cut down the nets next month at the Final Four in Indianapolis, No. 4 UConn (27-3) would become the first program since the legendary UCLA Bruins in the 1960s and ’70s to capture three national titles in four years. The Huskies currently have the sixth-best odds to win it all and accomplish the feat, according to DraftKings via ESPN.
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To contend amid a top-heavy college basketball landscape, UConn will need continued stellar play from center Tarris Reed Jr., who has quietly put together one of the more impressive seasons in the Big East Conference this year. Reed leads his team in both rebounds (7.9) and blocks per game (2.2), and he’s second in scoring (13.7). He also hands out 2.2 assists and grabs 1.0 steals per game.
All of these totals are career highs for the senior from St. Louis, who was celebrated on Senior Day before UConn’s 71-67 win against Seton Hall on Saturday.
Reed’s college career began with the Michigan Wolverines in 2022-23, playing 12.6 minutes and averaging 3.4 points per game. He was inserted into the starting lineup for the 2023-24 season, but after the firing of coach Juwan Howard following a disappointing 8-24 campaign, Reed entered the transfer portal and committed to UConn.
In Storrs, Connecticut, Reed served as a key rotational piece off the bench last season, an effort that earned him the Big East Sixth Man of the Year award. However, he didn’t attribute his emergence to any on-court adjustments.
“The coaches have been on me hard, so as soon as I locked in, reading the Word, locking in with Him, spending more time with the Lord,” he said on the court after a game last March, “… my confidence is higher. And I just go out and play freely, play as hard as I can and put on for my team.”
Reed admits that he hasn’t always made following Christ a priority. But during his time at Michigan, a coach challenged him to read about the life of Jesus in the Bible.
“It changed my life,” Reed said of the experience. “The way I walk, talk, act, speak — Jesus has literally changed me from the inside out. I love talking about the Lord and what He’s done for my life, so I can go out and help others.”
Reed said that he continues to read his Bible every morning, and he frequently begins press conferences by praising God. His X account includes a banner photo with the words, “It’s all about Jesus, it’s only about Jesus and it’s always about Jesus.” His bio reads, “Pray more worry less.”
In January, during the dog days of the college basketball season, Reed appeared on Sports Spectrum’s “What’s Up” podcast.
“Jesus just wiped my eyes clean,” Reed said on the podcast about his spiritual growth. “I got to see the world through a whole new lens. That’s really where my journey began. That’s where the seed — my whole life — just grew and it started to blossom from there.”
While Reed thrives as both a basketball player and a follower of Christ, he is helping UConn chase history.
The first step for the team is winning the Big East. The Huskies (17-2 in the Big East) lead St. John’s (16-2) by half a game for the regular-season conference title, and their final contest of the regular season is a road matchup with Marquette (10-19) on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 12:30 p.m. ET.
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