Tarris Reed Jr. will script history when he enters the hardwood in the National Championship game on Monday for the UConn Huskies. The 22-year-old’s ambitious move looks like the right call after all, as he prepares to face the Michigan Wolverines for the National Championship.

Tarris Reed Jr. will become the first player to face his former college program in a National Championship game. The starting Center has been a key player for Dan Hurley and has stepped up massively this season. Meanwhile, Michigan fared just fine without him, also reaching this stage.

What happened behind the scenes that led to Reed ending his two-year association with the Wolverines, and how did he end up at UConn?

Why Did Tarris Reed Jr. Leave Michigan?

Michigan recruited Tarris Reed Jr. under then-head coach Juwan Howard. However, Howard parted ways with the Wolverines after going 8-24 in the regular season in the 2023-24 campaign. Michigan brought in Dusty May, and the writing was on the wall for Reed Jr., with the new head coach being honest with the starting Center.

Dusty May planned to bring in frontcourt reinforcements, bigger than the 6’10 Reed, and that coincided with the Center wanting a change as well. Reed Jr. highlighted that the honest conversations meant there was no bad blood as he entered the transfer portal in 2024.

The UConn Center recalled, “I hung around Michigan for a couple of weeks, and then they announced (Dusty May) was supposed to be the coach. I talked to him multiple times. I like Coach May, and he was just being super up front with who he was bringing in, who’s looking at recruiting-wise. So, feel like just him being honest with me, and I’m being honest with him, it was the right way. So, it was no bad blood.”

The 22-year-old was attracting several top college programs, and it felt like the best move for both Michigan and Reed Jr.

Why Did He Choose UConn Over Staying or Other Programs?

While Tarris Reed Jr. was being pursued by several top programs, the Michigan Center saw UConn as an ideal home after watching tapes of Adama Sanogo, UConn’s big man, who won the 2023 NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player award.

Sanogo dominated the paint for UConn, and Reed Jr. saw a bigger opportunity to shine, especially with the Malian Center being a few inches shorter than the Michigan star.

That opportunity and Dan Hurley’s winning culture developed at UConn drew Reed Jr. to Connecticut, as he himself admits.

Reed Jr. said in 2024, “I chose UConn for its winning culture, commitment to player development and coaching style… Coach Hurley’s tough coaching style is known for pushing players into uncomfortable situations, making the uncomfortable seem comfortable. UConn provides the ideal setting and coaching for me to maximize my potential both on and off the court.”

Reed Jr. was entering a UConn team set to lose Donovan Clingan to the NBA, which would only elevate expectations from the transfer.

How Has the Transfer Impacted Tarris Reed Jr.’s Career?

Things didn’t pan out exactly the way Reed Jr. had planned in the beginning. His first season at UConn was a struggle as he started just one game under Dan Hurley, who coached him so hard that it made him contemplate his UConn future after his junior year. However, it turned out pretty smoothly as he won the  Big East Conference Sixth Man of the Year Award despite starting just one game.

Reed puts it down to his faith and belief. “When I started writing it down in my journal, it was pretty obvious,” he said. “If you want all this, you want to go to the NBA, you have to stay at UConn. So I was just wrestling with myself for the longest time, knowing how tough it was going to be coming back for my senior year. Going into one of the hardest seasons of my life and then choosing to come back, that’s not easy to do.”

And the rest is, well, almost history. Reed Jr.’s game took a giant leap, with the 22-year-old starting every game he has played in. Reed Jr. is averaging 14.8 points and 8.8 rebounds per game this year for the Huskies and has played an instrumental role in their journey to the National Championship final.

As the senior big man gears up to face Michigan for what will be his last game in college basketball before probably heading into the NBA Draft, the storyline is set, and it will be interesting to see how Reed Jr.’s college journey culminates.