University of Connecticut Athletics
Reed Jr. Named To Abdul-Jabbar Award Watch List
10/31/2025 1:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – UConn men's basketball senior Tarris Reed Jr. has been named to the Preseason Watch List for the 2026 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, presented annually by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame to the nation's top center. The Hall of Fame announced watch lists for its "Starting Five" award throughout this week. UConn is one of two teams nationally, along with Houston, to have a member of each positional watch list.
Reed Jr. enters his second season at UConn primed for a huge jump following a 2024-25 campaign that netted him the BIG EAST Sixth Man Awar. He was named Preseason First Team All-Conference after averaging 9.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 19.9 minutes per game a season ago. The St. Louis native rated as the one of the nation's most efficient board men, ranking top-12 nationally in both offensive rebounding percentage and defensive rebounding percentage.
Joining Reed Jr. on Starting Five watch lists are teammates Silas Demary Jr. (Cousy), Solo Ball (West), Braylon Mullins (Erving) and Alex Karaban. The quintet are each seeking to join Kemba Walker (2011), Shabazz Napier (2014) and Tristen (2024), all Cousy Award winners, among UConn's all-time positional award recipients.
