- Name:Tristan Reed
- Class: 2026
- Recruiter:Kyle Smithpeters
- Composite Rating:0.9713 (No. 79)
- HT/WT:6-9/230
- Position:Post
- Hometown:St. Louis
- School:Link Academy
- Notable Suitors:Ohio State, Michigan State, Mississippi State, Iowa
What is Reed’s Stock?
Since early May, Reed’s standing has remained level, and he’s slotted at No. 79 in 247Sports’ composite index. But as the graphic illustrates, a quick start to the grassroots season saw him rise roughly 15 spots. As Reed prepares to suit up at Link Academy, which is jostling among elite hoop factories in the Nike-backed EYBL Scholastic circuit, the question is whether he breaks into the top 70 among his peers.
That ceiling has little to do with Reed’s performance. In a moment, you’ll see a slew of metrics that tell us he was incredibly productive with Mokan Elite. Physically, he’s already mature enough to set foot on a high-major campus. Calling Reed a high-floor prospect isn’t a slight. It’s one of his best attributes.
So, why is lagging behind a couple of former teammates in Sheek Pearson and Ethan Taylor? Projectability. Reed’s frame might be stout, but he’s slightly undersized for a traditional post player. Meanwhile, his skill set also harks back to a time before the pace-and-space revolution began diminishing its importance.
Think of it this way: If Reed were being recruited in 2005, there’s a strong possibility he’d find himself among the top 50 prospects nationally. Now, the question is whether Reed could round out other facets of his game to be useful outside of the lane.
How well did he play?
Over the past two grassroots campaigns, Reed split minutes with Taylor, a former Mizzou target who now finds himself among the top 30 prospects in his class. Yet when you compare stat lines, they’re virtually indistinguishable. Again, the differentiating factor is perceived upside.
Skim those columns, and Reed’s efficiency jumps out immediately. Per Synergy Sports, he ranked in the 85th percentile among peers on the 17U circuit, buoyed by averaging a gob-smacking 1.61 points per shot around the rim. Your eyes should also gravitate to Reed’s blocks and steals. He averaged 2.7 of them per game, which is exceptionally robust for a big man only logging 16 minutes each time out.
Reviewing Reed’s underlying metrics should also leave you slightly giddy. His rebound rates? Absurd. He also disrupts without running a hefty foul count (0.792 PFx), hinting that his aggressiveness won’t handicap his availability.
So, even before we parse Reed’s play type data or pick through his film, we can spell out a concise profile: a long and physical interior presence who reliably converts at the cup, wipes the glass, knows how to use his frame, and won’t shirk grimy duty on the defensive end.
How does Reed want to operate offensively?
Reed thrives when he can throw his weight around and use his plus-6-inch wingspan to finish over the top of the helpless defender he buried in the lane. In fact, Reed finished the summer as arguably the best post-up threat on the EYBL circuit.
Seriously. Just look at the chart below, which shows Reed’s elite status.
Listen, I understand why scouts – and MU’s staff – adored Taylor and Pearson. They’re long. They’re agile. They have great timing off the floor. And as their frames filled out, you could envision each becoming just as potent after snagging an entry pass – and closing the gap that Reed has opened in the near-term.
It doesn’t take much sifting to see that Reed’s made operating on the block his calling card. Beyond that, he scrounged up points via putbacks and functioned as a trusty safety valve in the short corner.
Another round of panning reveals some healthy diversity in how Reed sources his paint touches. The aforementioned dump-offs and putbacks sit atop the table, but then we can get a sense of which post-ups suit Reed best.
Clearly, he enjoys ducking into the lane for high-low plays, and he’s comfortable with a direct or lob entry. And no matter which side of the lane he uses, Reed’s operative goal is to finish with his right hand over his left shoulder.
Mokan’s method of producing those opportunities was just as blunt as the force Reed could apply when carving out space. Let’s start by looking at Reed flashing into the lane and sealing a defender on his back for a lob entry.
Mokan made routine use of box sets, which is just what it sounds like. Typically, wing players set up on the blocks, and bigs are stationed at the elbows. Over the years, coaches have devised numerous creative ways to utilize that alignment. In Mokan’s system, guards set up on one side of the lane and big men on the other.
Sometimes, the guards turn out while Reed slips into the paint before receiving a lob entry from the wing. Or a guard might set a gut screen, allowing his peer to curl into a catch at the top of the arc, while Reed creates a post pin on the weak side. The alignment is also a staple for Mokan to create high-low opportunities from in-bounds plays along the baseline.
That’s the beauty of box sets: one alignment spawns a plethora of ways to punch the ball inside.
Similarly, Mokan’s offense would use a gut screen in a five-out alignment to free up a guard to curl into a catch before they dumped the ball into Reed, who would play directly to the rim over his left shoulder.
And if nothing else, Mokan could tap into Reed’s consistency at any point in a possession. If a high PNR didn’t pan out, fine. Just reverse the ball to the wing, create a passing angle, and feed the big man. Want to invert the floor? Cool. Reed will run a dribble handoff and slip down to the post. Put him in a horns set and build a back screen that allows Reed to angle cut to a clean catch, while the defender trails.
Would landing Reed herald a potential schematic shift? No. After Gates’ first season at Cleveland State, none of his squads have finished higher than 223rd nationally in post-up volume. While it’s unlikely MU funnels its offense through low block, Reed’s knack at creating space and understanding of how to create optimal angles still has value. There are nights and matchups where the best offense is the simplest and most direct route to the cup: feeding your big man early in a possession and seeing if he can exploit a matchup quickly.
By contrast, Reed could find his way into the scoring column simply by finding creases and pockets of space. He intuitively understood when to make himself available in the short corner. He could feast on high-low passes after the ball reached the middle of a zone. He back cut on in-bounds plays. And if Mokan prevailed in the scramble for an offensive rebound, it could exploit a broken floor by pinging a pass to Reed.
And finally, Reed sprints the floor hard to win a race to the front of him, helping him steal a basket or two in outings where sledding is tough against a set defense.
It should be said that Reed is far from a finished product. He’ll need to expand his repertoire of counters when brawn alone won’t prevail. At this point, he’s not known for spraying passes out from the post, either. (That was a selling point for Taylor.) And while he has played in some Princeton-inspired actions, particularly delay-esque sets, Reed isn’t the smoothest reader of split cuts or a polished connector as a possession unfolds.
None of those critiques is harsh, though. They’re routine. And before the transfer portal existed, coaches worked around them by, well, putting players through a developmental program. What makes Reed enticing right now is that he can handle items on a punch list that have fallen to cost-conscious additions from other high-major programs. Bluntly, he could be a safe way to jump off the portal carousel.
What does Reed offer defensively?
Assessing Reed’s handiwork on the other end requires a bit more nuance, because going strictly by his top-line data, the quick snapshot isn’t flattering.
We should treat tracking and play-type data gauging defensive performance with a measure of caution. Assigning responsibility for a possession can be squishy, and that’s before we consider the game plan being used. Often, we backstop individual data by examining how a player’s presence affects their team’s defensive rating — but that information isn’t easily accessible for grassroots circuits. Complicating matters further is the fact that Reed’s involvement — just 2.9 possessions per game — makes his metrics ripe for skewing.
Meanwhile, other indicators tilt in his favor. Averaging 2.7 STOCKS per game is a robust tally given his position and playing time. Reed also posted a 24.9 defensive rebound rate, stellar for a supposedly undersized post player.
So, how do we reconcile those conflicting data points? We go to the tape. For example, the play-type analysis indicates that Reed defended just nine shots at the rim in a half-court setting. Yet his stat line tallied up 32 blocks this spring. Reviewing those swats provides us with a firm foundation in what Reed can offer.
Failing all else, Reed is comfortable looming as a deterrent around the restricted arc. A college-ready frame makes it easy for him to absorb contact from drivers around the cup, and Reed understands how to play with verticality. We don’t have a firm measurement of Reed’s bounce, but his pop off the floor is functional enough that, along with his wingspan, it makes the geometry of rim finishes tricky.
Crucially, Reed’s agility, short-area quickness, and anticipation are good enough that he doesn’t struggle when rotating from the weak side of the floor as a backstop. On film, he arrives with enough time to establish position and — at the very least — wall up. But again, when he does leave the floor, it’s under control.
Most importantly, there’s video proof that Reed’s feet aren’t encased in concrete. He can slide his feet and flip his hips with enough fluidity to recover back to the restricted arc, stay even with a dribbler after they turn the corner, and prevent a roller from getting behind him when tasked with drop coverage in a ball screen.
Does that mean you want Reed routinely switched on to a guard and marooned in space? No. But that’s true for most bigs. What these clips show us is that Reed is mobile enough to handle more aggressive ball-screen coverages, where he might play closer to the level of the screen before swiftly recovering to the paint or sliding laterally to contest a pick-and-pop. And if an opposing big man wants to face him up — whether on the block or in the mid-post — Reed can stay on balance, cut off an angle and still play straight up.
When you add that to a frame that can dislodge foes on the block and snatch contested rebounds in traffic, Reed boasts some tools that could shore up MU’s interior defense over the long haul.
TL;DR Summary
Reed is a high-floor, physically mature prospect ranked No. 79 nationally. Known for his elite post-up efficiency, rebounding, and defensive impact with Mokan Elite, Reed excels in interior scoring and paint presence but faces questions about his versatility in today’s pace-and-space game. While not flashy, his reliability and toughness make him a valuable target, especially for teams seeking stability over portal gambles.