‘I Was Trying To Get Him To Stay’: Dusty May Recalls Recruiting Tarris Reed Jr. Before Dallas Mavericks Face San Antonio Spurs
SAN ANTONIO — Mavericks coach Dusty May tried to keep Tarris Reed Jr. at Michigan in the spring of 2024, May said before the Dallas Mavericks visited Reed’s San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night at Frost Bank Center.
Reed entered the transfer portal on March 19, 2024, after two seasons at Michigan under Juwan Howard. Michigan hired May from Florida Atlantic four days later, and Reed ended up at UConn.
Reed’s girlfriend was still a Michigan student at the time, May said, so the two had a short window to get to know each other.
“Got to know Tarris a little bit over a two-week period. Really, really have a lot of respect for him as a human being,” May said. “He’s a great guy. The holdover players we had, they were big fans of his as well. At the time, his girlfriend still went to Michigan, so there was a brief recruitment process.”
“It just … we were having healthy conversations. I was trying to get him to stay,” May continued. “And then when Vlad announced, Vlad Goldin announced he was coming as a center, and then Danny Wolf committed shortly thereafter, it was almost as if this will be really difficult to make it work and he wanted a fresh start and it worked out for both.”
“He had an amazing year actually when NBA personnel was calling about him right after our season. I thought he was one of the biggest sleepers in the draft,” May added. “And so he’s a good player and he does so many little things, rebounding, screening. He’s low, down low, finishing and scoring. So that’s a nice pickup to an already very, very solid, stable frontcourt player.”
Tarris Reed Jr. Chose UConn After Dusty May Arrived At Michigan
Vladislav Goldin had played center for May at Florida Atlantic and followed him to Ann Arbor. Danny Wolf, a 7-footer, committed to Michigan out of Yale on April 20, 2024. Both are in the NBA now, Goldin with the Miami Heat and Wolf with the Brooklyn Nets.
Reed spent his last two college seasons at UConn. As a senior in 2025-26, he made the All-Big East first team and was the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament’s East Regional. In the first round against Furman, he had 31 points and 27 rebounds in an 82-71 win.
Michigan Beat Reed And UConn In The 2026 Title Game
UConn and Michigan met for the national championship on April 6 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Michigan won 69-63 for its first title since 1989. Reed had 13 points and 14 rebounds for the Huskies, and Michigan forward Morez Johnson Jr., now a Mavericks rookie, had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The Denver Nuggets took Reed with the 26th overall pick in June and traded him to San Antonio for the 35th pick and two future second-round picks. He has appeared in four games for the Spurs, averaging 2.5 points and 3.8 rebounds in 5.0 minutes. In the 122-106 win over Dallas on Oct. 24, he played the last 6:39 and had 2 points and 3 rebounds, 2 of them offensive.
May’s ties to the Reed family run past Tarris. Michigan also recruited one of his younger brothers, and May knows his parents.
“Like I said, I think he wanted to stay and I wanted him to stay. And then just sometimes timing is the issue,” May explained. “But we recruited his brother, so I know his mom and dad. And he’s one of the best. I mean, he’s a worker. He’s a guy that helps his team. Everyone’s better because they’re around him.”
San Antonio is without Tobias Harris (calf) and rookie Jayden Quaintance (knee). The Spurs (5-2) have won five straight. Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.
