‘I think he’s the most skilled big man in the country.’ Is he UK’s newest target for 2020?
Accompanying his star player to some of the nation’s biggest basketball camps last summer, Steward School (Va.) head coach Curt Kassab came to a realization.
“I mean, I think he’s the most skilled big man in the country,” Kassab told the Herald-Leader on Thursday. He was talking about junior big man Efton Reid, a 7-footer considered to be one of the nation’s top post prospects.
Kassab was at the NBPA Top 100 Camp in Virginia and the Nike Elite 100 camp in St. Louis last summer to chart Reid’s progress on the court. He’s obviously seen him grow during his high school career. He knows Reid has a bright future ahead of him.
“There are some really athletic post players, but they don’t have his skill,” he said of how Reid stacks up with his peers. “I think that’s why he’s such a priority for so many schools.”
Around the time Wednesday that it became clear Kentucky would not be getting prized graduate transfer Matt Haarms, the Cats touched base with Reid, who has entertained the idea of possibly reclassifying to 2020 and starting his college basketball career next season.
ESPN ranks Reid as the No. 14 overall recruit in the 2021 class, while Rivals.com and 247Sports both have him at No. 27 nationally.
UK assistant coach Joel Justus sent Reid a text message Wednesday to see how he was doing, Kassab said. It wasn’t the Cats’ first contact with the promising big man. Justus also visited Reid in person back in the fall, a meeting that the star player’s head coach says went well. Kassab noted that UK has not been nearly as active in Reid’s recruitment as many other schools over the past few months, but he didn’t necessarily take that as a slight.
“I know that Kentucky does things a little bit different than some of the other programs,” Kassab said.
As the Cats look to add one more frontcourt player for next season — their top target, Haarms, committed to BYU on Thursday — Reid could become an option.
He averaged 19 points, 12 rebounds and two blocked shots per game as a junior at Steward School this past season, shooting 74.6 percent from the field and even making 12 three-pointers (in 40 attempts).
Reid has the size to solve UK’s need for a bigger body in the post. Kassab said he’s probably a little taller than 7 feet now, and he’s up to the 230-235-pound weight range (with 245 being the goal before college).
While other star frontcourt recruits in the 2020 and 2021 class might have more athleticism, Reid has a game that appears destined to translate terrifically to the next level (with plenty of pro upside, to boot).
“His footwork in the post — there have been a couple of (college) coaches that have compared him to Tim Duncan,” Kassab said. “He plays and even kind of looks a little bit like him. ... He has hook shots going over either shoulder with either hand. I’ve had coaches come in to watch him work out and say, ‘Is he right-handed or left-handed?’ He’s actually right-handed, but it’s hard to tell. Especially inside.”
Kassab hesitated before repeating the Duncan comparisons. He’s been coaching for nearly three decades at the college and high school levels, so he knows it comes across as hyperbole when comparing a teenager to one of the best power forwards of all time. He also knows how special Reid can be, and how impressive he’s already become.
“He’s a very versatile, very skilled post player. He can play stretch ‘4,’ he can play the ‘5.’ He can shoot the three, he has good handles for a big guy. He’s ambidextrous in the post, so he can go over either shoulder. … He has little bit of an old-school post game.”
He’s throwing in some new school, as well.
Kassab invoked the name of another NBA star — reigning league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo — when describing some “Giannis-like” moves Reid pulled off during the high school season. Dribbling left, spinning back, crossing over and gliding in for a dunk — against some of his team’s toughest competition of the season, no less.
“Just things like that,” Kassab said. “He’s a very versatile kid, and he has an unbelievable ceiling. … He’s very focused. He’s very bright. His basketball IQ is off the charts. And I do his personal training, as well, and he’s just a joy to be around. Everything you show him — you just don’t find kids that pick stuff up like he does.
“He has razor focus, and he’s a ‘Yes, sir. No, sir,’ kid who just wants to learn. He’s like a sponge.”
Will he reclassify to 2020?
After missing out on Haarms, the Cats need at least one more instant-impact frontcourt player to join highly touted power forward recruits Isaiah Jackson and Lance Ware in Lexington next season. Reid has openly talked about a possible move to the 2020 class. So, will reclassification happen?
“That’s an option,” Kassab acknowledged. “He’s keeping that option open, but I would say that the chances are not very good that that’s going to happen. He’s probably going to take his time. There are some schools that he definitely wants to visit in person. I know a lot of these kids are making early decisions. He’s a very bright kid, so he’s going to evaluate every scenario.”
In other words, don’t expect Reid to jump at an opportunity — even an opportunity to play basketball at Kentucky — without thinking things all the way through. The Herald-Leader was told Friday that UK is not expecting Reid to reclassify to 2020 but sees him as a top player in the class of 2021.
Kassab said several major programs have made Reid their No. 1 priority for the 2021 class. He’s already taken official visits to Louisville, Ohio State and home-state Virginia — three programs still recruiting him hard — with many others showing a high level of interest.
“We’re doing a lot of Zoom calls right now,” Kassab said with a laugh.
With the NCAA’s current ban on in-person recruiting due to the coronavirus pandemic, it will be more difficult for coaches to build relationships with prospective recruits. Kassab said that — as of Thursday morning, to his knowledge — Reid hadn’t had any direct contact with John Calipari. “Again, I’m sure that’s not unusual,” he added, noting that the Kentuckys and Dukes of the college basketball world recruit a little differently than everyone else.
Those relationships will be important in Reid’s ultimate decision, however.
“He’s definitely going to have an opportunity to go pretty much anywhere he wants to go.” Kassab said. “And he’s not in any rush. He’s very conscientious of building relationships. He’s very much into building relationships with the head coach, and he understands that the head coach is who he’s going to be playing for. So that is really, really critical in his recruiting process — getting to know and getting to develop a relationship with the head coach.
“We’ve got plenty of great opportunities right now sitting in front of us, and it’s just a matter of him making a decision on where he wants to spend four years. He definitely doesn’t want to be a kid who ends up in the transfer portal. He wants to take his time.”
This story was originally published April 23, 2020 at 2:31 PM.
