St. Louisan Tarris Reed Jr. was selected by the San Antonio Spurs with the No. 26 pick of the first round of the NBA Draft on Wednesday night.
The Denver Nuggets initially held the No. 26 pick, but traded it to the Spurs to move back to No. 35 in the second round. The Spurs used that pick to select the 6’11” Reed, a former standout at Chaminade College Prep who played his last collegiate seasons at Connecticut.
Reed enjoyed a big senior season at UConn, averaging 14 points and 9.0 rebounds while shooting 60 percent from the field, helping lead the Huskies to a berth in the NCAA Tournament championship game.
Reed’s play in the NCAA Tournament was a major factor in the Huskies advancing to their third Final Four berth in four years. He scored 31 points and grabbed 27 rebounds in UConn’s victory over Furman in the first round. In the East Regional finals, he scored 26 points and grabbed nine rebounds in a thrilling 73-72 victory over Duke. In the national semifinals, Reed scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the Huskies’ victory over Illinois.
Reed becomes the fourth player from Chaminade selected in the first round of the NBA Draft. He joins former Red Devils stars David Lee (2006), Bradley Beal (2013) and Jayson Tatum (2017) as NBA players.