San Antonio Spurs rookie Tarris Reed Jr. answers questions during a news conference at Victory Capital Performance Center in San Antonio, Thursday, June 25, 2026.
Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News
San Antonio Spurs rookie Tarris Reed Jr. answers questions during a news conference at Victory Capital Performance Center in San Antonio, Thursday, June 25, 2026.
Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News
In his two seasons with the UConn men’s basketball team, Tarris Reed Jr. proved to be an affable, approachable and very spiritual young man.
At his introductory press conference with the San Antonio Spurs Thursday, Reed displayed all those same attributes … and more.
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“I’m an open book,” Reed told members of the San Antonio media. “I’m more of a homebody — read books, go on walks, treating people the right way. The Lord blessed me with this gift of being able to communicate and reach people. Basketball is my calling, and I praise Jesus for it every day.”
Reed was selected with the 26th overall pick in the NBA Draft on Tuesday night by Denver, who immediately traded him to the Spurs. Sporting shorts and a Husky-blue golf shirt, he was one of four Spurs draft picks unveiled to the local media on Friday, along with Kentucky’s Jayden Quaintance (No. 20), Tennessee’s Ja’Kobi Gillespie (No. 42) and Duke’s Maliq Brown (No. 44).
Reed joins a talented Spurs team, led by 7-foot-4 unicorn Victor Wembanyama, that won the Western Conference this past season and lost to the Knicks in the NBA Finals. Similarly, in his second season with UConn, Reed helped guide the Huskies to the national championship game, where they fell to Michigan.
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“That was probably the toughest moment of my life,” he said of UConn’s first loss in a national title game. “Working so hard for it, not knowing you can get there, then you get there and come up short. It’s uncomfortable. It definitely sticks with me to this day, I’m not gonna lie. This group of guys went through this last year with San Antonio. I think that’s going to help us this year, that chip on the shoulder, wanting to make things right.Â
Spurs rookies Maliq Brown, from left, Jayden Quaintance, Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Tarris Reed Jr. hold up their jerseys during an introductory news conference at Victory Capital Performance Center, Thursday, June 25, 2026, in San Antonio.
Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News
Of course, one of Reed’s new teammates is Stephon Castle, who preceded Reed in Storrs by one season and helped lead the Huskies to their second straight national title in his one-and-done freshman season. Castle was the No. 4 overall pick in the 2024 draft and the 2024-25 NBA Rookie of the Year.
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“Knowing I’ve got another fellow UConn Husky to play alongside this year is going to be pretty special,” Reed said. “We’re definitely going to talk about some cool, crazy, funny (Dan) Hurley stories, or something he went through that we both went through in that program.”
Asked for one of those “crazy, funny” Hurley stories, Reed smiled.
“A lot of people haven’t seen Coach Hurley go crazy in practice, grab his head and say, ‘Tarris! Tarris,'” Reed related. “Lay at halfcourt on his back, kicking balls during practice, yelling at you.”
“But it’s all fun and games,” Reed continued. “He’s a competitor, and we’re all competitors. He’s going to coach you at the highest level and demand every ounce of potential out of you. Looking back at my whole career, I’m like, ‘Man, he really did push me to the max.’ You’re appreciative and grateful for a coach like that.”
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It was pointed out that Reed, at 6-11, boasts the same wingspan as Wembanyama.
San Antonio Spurs rookie Tarris Reed Jr. attends an introductory news conference at Victory Capital Performance Center in San Antonio, Thursday, June 25, 2026.
Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News
“The Lord blessed me with great wingspan, size, physicality,” he said. “I feel like it’s going to be great playing alongside Wemby, whatever my roles is this year. It’s going to help on the defensive end, help me snag rebounds on the offensive end and be a force on both ends of the court.”Â
Reed’s family deliberated long and hard on how to spend NBA Draft night — especially with no guarantee that he’d be taken in Tuesday’s first round. They wound up holding a party in his hometown of St. Louis.
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San Antonio Spurs rookie Tarris Reed Jr., right, shakes hands with his new rookie teammate Ja’Kobi Gillespie during a news conference at Victory Capital Performance Center in San Antonio, Thursday, June 25, 2026.
Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News
When he was about to be selected, Reed’s cell phone started cutting out. He got a text from friends that he was going to San Antonio, but he didn’t know for sure until he saw it himself on the TV broadcast.
“When I saw my name on the screen, it was just a genuine, pure, raw reaction,” he said. “‘I’m going to San Antonio!'”
Now he’s there, an “open book” on a young, talented, hungry team that features another former UConn star.
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“It’s a blessing, man,” Tarris Reed Jr. continued. “To play for such an elite, legendary organization as the San Antonio Spurs, around these great people. You get to feel the city and support system.