Right team, wrong time: UConn’s Tarris Reed Jr. narrowly missed another national title Monday night
By Ethan Stone
Published:
Have you ever seen that 30 for 30 that covers the early 1990s Buffalo Bills, which lost 4 straight Super Bowls? This story has very similar vibes.
Monday night’s national championship result had to have stung a little more for UConn’s Tarris Reed Jr., whose career was infected with 4 cases of right team, wrong time.
Michigan beat a UConn team that has done nothing but win in March in recent years. The Huskies won the national title in 2023 and 2024 while our guy Reed suited up for the Wolverines under Juwan Howard. Following Juwan Howard’s firing in 2024, Reed moved to enter the transfer portal after 2 years with Michigan. Seeing all the success Dan Hurley was having at UConn, Reed committed to play for the Huskies.
Despite a solid first year for Reed, Dan Hurley’s 2025 squad fizzled out before reaching the second weekend, with Florida eventually moving on to win the title.
Which brings us to this year. Despite not being considered one of the most dominant teams in college basketball, UConn (led in part by Reed) found its way back to the title game, facing off against Reed’s old team. The rest is history.
Despite Michigan and UConn combining to win 3 national titles across the past 4 seasons and Reed playing at one of UConn or Michigan across each of those past 4 seasons, Reed will end his college career with zero national titles under his belt.
Absolutely brutal.
Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.
