Matt Reed has already done something that has rarely been done at TU. As a true freshman, he began the season as the starting center for the Golden Hurricane.
And Reed was not just starting. He was showing he can be a pretty good player.
The 6-foot-10, 245-pounder from I-School Academy in Lewisville, Texas, has started 6 off 11 games so far this season. He is sharing time with 7-foot sophomore St. John's transfer Mohamed Keita at the 5 position.
In his first game at TU, Reed made every shot from the field, going 3 of 3, including making his only three-pointer, and added 6 rebounds in almost 22 minutes.
"That says a lot, that he is starting," second-year TU coach Eric Konkol said at the start of the season. "He's a tremendous worker. He's very conscientious and attentive to trying to get better. Anything that you give him, he's going to take it, and run with it, and do it to the best of his ability."
For Reed, starting and playing this early is a big deal to him. But not a shock.
"I would say, not super surprised I'm starting, just because the coach I had in high school really prepared me for what college was going to look like, going to a prep school," said Reed of his high school coach, Brian Nwelue. "What we do here is really the exact thing we did in high school. I'm used to this kind of schedule.
"Coming here, it feels pretty much the same. Just the competition has increased. So, it doesn't feel foreign to me."
As a senior in high school, Reed averaged 13.2 points and 7.9 rebounds, while shooting 38 percent from three-point range and 71 percent from the free throw line.
"He’s a throwback in the way that he can really post and seal, and he likes the contact," Konkol said. "But yet he's modern in that he can shoot, he can pass, he can dribble. He can do a number of different things. He's very intelligent. He can play both forward spots (4 and 5)."
Whether the 5 spot is called forward, as it is officially listed now, or called center, that is where Reed is playing. As Konkol mentioned, he could play the 4 (power forward), but more likely will stay at the 5.
"The versatility with Reed and Jared Garcia and Jarred Hall and Mo Keita, there's a lot of flexibility and versatility there," Konkol said.
In mentioning talented juco transfer Jared Garcia (6-9, 250), he certainly could play an undersized 5, and has done so when needed. And Reed's fellow freshman, Jarred Hall (6-9, 215), really is more of a 4 or a 3, but isn't really a 5.
But with Konkol wanting to switch things up on teams, all of the mentioned players have versatility.
Through Tulsa’s first 11 games, Reed is averaging 5.1 points and 5.0 rebounds in 18 minutes per contest. He also has six assists, two steals and two blocks. In TU's 65-59 win over New Mexico State last week, Reed came off the bench and contributed 6 points and 8 rebounds in 14 minutes.
"I thought Matt Reed came in and did a really nice job,” said Konkol. “Matt was really physical, gave us some big-time minutes."
The burly Reed is what old-timers would call a "wide body." And Reed certainly displays old style, hard-nosed traits.
"We really like Matt's intensity," Konkol said. "He's kind of that gritty force in our lineup. He's a green light guy. What always happens as a freshman, whether you are a guard or a forward, the adjustment is just finding the spots, the flow of the offense, while going against the speed of the college game. Matt is a guy who has the green light to shoot the three for us."
