UConn Star Tarris Reed Jr. To Face Former Michigan Squad In Final

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Call it the Tarris Reed Jr. game. When Michigan and Connecticut face off in the national championship game on Monday night, the 6-11, 265-pound senior will anchor the UConn frontline -- while facing his former team. Before transferring to UConn prior to the 2024-25 season, Reed played his freshman and sophomore years at Michigan. "It has a special place in my heart," Reed said, "always will." Mainly coming off the bench as a freshman, he averaged 12.6 minutes and 3.4 points per game. He made a jump as a sophomore, starting 31 games and averaging nine points and 7.2 rebounds. Following his two years at Michigan, his portal visit to UConn coincided with the Huskies' championship parade to commemorate the 2023-24 season, and that celebration served as the ultimate recruiting tool. "This is why I came here," Reed said. "Coach Hurley's won championships. I wanted to be in this position, man. Now that I'm here, I'm just so thankful for it all." After Dan Hurley signed a six-year, $50 million contract extension to coach the Huskies through the 2029-30 season, following back-to-back national championships, one of his prizes was landing Reed. And Reed has been playing the best basketball of his career during the 2026 NCAA Tournament. The Most Outstanding Player Award of the East Regional carried UConn in round one with an astounding 31-point, 27-rebound performance against Furman. After a double-double against UCLA, he had 20 points and five rebounds against Michigan State and 26 points and nine rebounds against Duke. "We've all just been waiting for this from him, this version of him," Hurley said. "He's played as well as anyone has played in this tournament." Reed had 17 points and 11 rebounds against Illinois while going against a team that has four rotation players 6-9 or taller, including the Ivisic brothers who both exceed 7-0. "They have the length, but I have the size," Reed said. "It was challenging especially when they started to double. It was a little bit difficult for me to find the open man." Reed faces another challenge against the Michigan frontcourt, which starts 7-3 Aday Mara, 6-9 Morez Johnson Jr. and 6-9 Yaxel Lendeborg, who hurt his ankle/knee in the first half of Saturday night's victory against Arizona but returned to start the second half and wore a knee brace on his left knee. None of those big men played with Reed at Michigan. When Michigan hired Dusty May to a contract, which pays him $4.6 million in base pay this season, two seasons ago, he turned over the roster. Sixth-year senior Will Tschetter, who receives 13.8 minutes per game this year as a backup forward, is the only rotation player who was on the team when Reed was. Reed and Tschetter were able to catch up at the Final Four Fan Fest. "Unreal dude, nobody's a better guy or better kid than T-Reed," Tschetter said. "I'm excited to play against him and see his development." Though Tschetter was complimentary and positive, the talented Wolverines are going be in for a battle against the physical UConn star who leads the Huskies in points (14.7 per game) and rebounds (8.8 per game) this year. "It's nothing personal," Reed said. "I know they're going to come for my head; I'm going to come for their head. It's going to be a fun, competitive game."