The Wolverines locked-up their second pledge in the 2022 class today with 4-star center Tarris Reed making his commitment to Michigan. 

Juwan Howard scores another impressive victory on the recruiting trail, this time a head-to-head win over Ohio State(!), Michigan State(!) and Purdue. While Michigan State was considered a leader early-on, Reed literally forgot about the East Lansing visit during a July interview. Tarris was extremely close to making a pledge to OSU on his visit, but the Wolverines completely turned the tide of this recruitment during his OV to Ann Arbor in late June thanks in large part to Juwan Howard. Doesn't get much better than this in terms of swooping in late to take a legit talent from multiple B10 rivals. 

 

GURU RANKINGS

Rivals	ESPN	24/7	Endless Motor
4*, #90 overall #15 C	4*, #56 overall #11 C, #1 MO	4*, #84 overall #14 C, #2 MO	4*, #40-60 overall

There is some explainable fluctuation between the services, with ESPN and Endless Motor touting Reed as a top 50ish type, while Rivals and 247 initially thought of him as a backend top 100 prospect. The health crisis robbed the industry of getting adequate evaluations for the most part, and Reed doesn't blow you away in a layup line with the eye test. So until this year, particularly Peach Jam, Tarris would need to produce in order to get properly assessed. And that he did. You can look for him to make a big jump over at Rivals. Within the next few weeks, he's likely to settle in at around 50ish from each site. 

There is also a split with respect to measurements. Rivals clearly goes with an outdated 6'8/220, while ESPN + 247 list him at 6'9/230. I go with 6'10/230. Reality is that Reed is closer to 6'9 than 7'0, but with the ridiculous exaggerations of list heights these days I'm going 6'10 based on eye-test with shoes and because he's committed to Michigan. The important takeaway here is that Tarris isn't a gargantuan in the mold of Hunter Dickinson, but he has a great body for the B10 with tree trunks for legs and pure girth to hold up to the physicality. 

 

SCOUTING

Michigan is getting a versatile big that does a lot of things above-average/good. His body-type doesn't scream finesse, but there's a lot to like here in terms of ball-skills. Reed's most enticing perimeter facet is absolutely the ability to face-up from the wing and put the ball on the floor for a few dribbles against traditional bigs. The first possession in the clip below is really impressive for a kid that size. Tarris gets the ball at the top of the key in pick-and-pop, takes a hard dribble right before euro-stepping the help defender and finishing. The final two possessions of this clip (starting at the :22 second mark) display his playmaking chops as well. He really excels attacking closeouts on straight-line drives as both a scorer and shot-creator for others. There aren't many 6'9-6'10/230 prospects with that level of handle + spatial awareness + body control. 

 

Undoubtedly though, Reed's most college ready attribute is bullying defenders as a back-to-basket-scorer. As you can see below, when he gets matched-up against a similarly sized big or smaller, Tarris is taking his defender for a walk to the torture chamber. He has a mass/strength advantage on most occasions at the HS level and knows how to use it. Whether he's going right or left, he gets into the chest of the defender to create space/negate shotblocking and goes up with power. This should translate well in the B10 against Joey Hauser-sized bigs. 

 

I'm not here to sell you on Reed being some agile freak in the mold of Moussa Diabate. I've never been part of the flowers and candy crowd that you may see elsewhere. But I will say that Reed has some intriguing flashes of perimeter defense against wings with average athleticism. Here he is below staying in front of 4-star Jaylen Martin for multiple dribbles initially and then again later in the possession. Now Martin doesn't have a ton of acceleration, but he does have the look of an average-sized wing in the B10. If Tarris can just be switchable/stay in front of those caliber of athletes in conference play it increases his ceiling a bit. With the benefits of Camp Sanderson getting him in better shape, it's not hard to project him doing that. 

[After THE JUMP: full analysis and prediction]

As with most any HS prospect, there are flaws present as well. With Reed not being a legit 7-footer while also lacking quick-twitch athleticism, he'll probably top out as an adequate rim protector. Simply doesn't have the combination of size + quick lift to be a Hunter Dickinson-like rim deterrent. This manifests at the HS level where he's often in position to block/alter a shot but fails to do so as seen below. 

 

Michigan will likely be limited with the types of defense utilized with Tarris at center. But I don't see this being a big issue by any means, as Juwan Howard typically prefers drop coverage against ballscreens and that will mask some of the potential agility issues. But for purposes of analysis, Reed doesn't move well enough for the Wolverines to use him in a show + recover scheme (a favorite of former coach John Beilein). The clip below hits home on this point. You can see how the lack of agility puts the team in total scramble-mode as Tarris' teammate has to stay attached to the rolling big for an unreasonable amount of time before switching back to his assignment and getting blown-by on the closeout. Again, not a huge red flag for me, as Michigan probably uses show + recover on less than a third of ballscreen defense possessions. 

 

On the offensive end Reed has displayed some promising flashes as a shooter that may project well for him to be a pick-and-pop threat. But if that element of his game doesn't manifest in Ann Arbor, it mitigates his ability as a face-up option in that same action. If he's not a proficient (or willing) shooter from the perimeter, defenders will simply refrain from closing out hard. If that's the case, Tarris doesn't possess the acceleration or shiftiness to beat a defender. The clip below reflects this exact scenario.

 

Jamie Shaw at Rivals comes in with high praise for Reed's face-up game and ability to score on the block after seeing him at Peach Jam:

"Reed showcased a diverse offensive game that was filled with face up jumpers, rip throughs and finishes, and back to the basket footwork and touch. Reed was the most consistent player for his MoKan (Mo.) 17u team in the bubble."

 

247 was more enamored with the strength/length and bully-ball ability displayed in Augusta:

"Reed has a big, strong frame with long arms and soft hands and touch, a serious combination for a big to be able to rebound and get buckets in the paint. He had a dominant first half burying opponents under the rim and scoring over both shoulders as well as running the floor in transition. Reed is making his impact felt here in Augusta and with continued play like that, he could see his stock rise in the coming months."

 

OFFERS

Kansas, Indiana, Florida, Iowa, Xavier, Arizona State, Illinois, Missouri all extended offers but in the end this was a B10 affair with Michigan, Ohio State, Michigan State and Purdue all making this a priority recruitment. 

 

HIGH SCHOOL

Tarris will play his senior year at Link Year Academy in Missouri. While not a historic powerhouse, the Lions have produced several D1 players and figure to be a top-10 squad nationally with a loaded roster that features multiple top-100 prospects. 

 

STATS

Reed put up 15.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, and nearly a block per game on 70% from the field during eight games in Peach Jam. During his junior year at Chaminade HS, he went for 21.8 points, 11.5 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per contest. 

 

VIDEO

Junior Year Highlights from Ballislife:

 

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

This is nearly impossible to project until we know whether Moussa Diabate returns for his sophomore campaign. The transfer portal exacerbates things to the extent that this is almost laughable to attempt. But I'll take a stab at it in any event. The best-case scenario for Michigan sees Diabate stick around for year two and/or grab an instant-impact big for 2022. Assuming that to be the case, Reed will likely get spot duty as a freshman as he works with Jon Sanderson to improve his body/athleticism. He'll have strong moments as a back-to-the-basket scorer with flashes as a face-up threat while also having a few issues defensively. 

As a sophomore, Tarris is going to be an impact rotational player that will likely start depending on roster construction. He'll be in the upper-tier of traditional bigs in the conference that has seen a huge surge in those exact type of players in recent years. Offensively, he'll likely be one of the better centers in the conference with his combination of mass + skill. We'll be able to run half-court offense through him as both a scorer on the block/pick-and-pop and passer in high-low/Horns action. He'll never be an all-conference defender, but he has just enough in the way of size + agility to be an average defender given Michigan's drop-coverage approach. 

Reed probably doesn't have the physical profile or athleticism to be intriguing to NBA GMs as an underclassmen. That said, he has the look of a multi-year contributor that can be one of the top 3-4 bigs in the conference as an upperclassmen. With Juwan Howard emphasizing post-offense via Horns and Motion Weak sets, a junior Tarris could very well put up 12-15ppg to go along with 6-7 rebounds and probably a block.

 

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

The staff's plan was to bring in four prospects in the 2022 class, but that may change depending on what they see in practice/season. This section is functionally moot with the transfer portal. Every coach I've spoken with prefers the portal for competition level/sample purposes and so it is simply impossible to project with any sort of intelligence. I want Yohan Traore in it, that much I am certain of. In speaking with Yohan frequently, he strongly prefers to play the PF spot. With Reed on board, the pitch just got a lot easier.