After drafting Tarris Reed Jr. in the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft, the San Antonio Spurs have made landing players from historical college programs a priority.
The recruiting pitch to join the San Antonio Spurs is pretty simple: play with Victor Wembanyama and compete for a championship.
In the NBA Draft, the Spurs didn't have to sell their new players on the team; they just had to select a name and tell them when to report to camp. Despite already having plenty of young talent, the Spurs traded into the first round, selecting both Jayden Quaintance and Tarris Reed Jr.
Quaintance, of course, missed nearly his entire second season with an injury, although he's still a product of the Kentucky Wildcats. Reed ended his career with two seasons under Dan Hurley at UConn and is expected to be a depth piece right away for the Spurs.
Huskies Rival Wildcats in San Antonio
On the standard roster, the Spurs have three guys who went to Kentucky: De'Aaron Fox, Keldon Johnson, and Quaintance. The Wildcats lead the NBA with 31 active players. For 15 seasons, that was Calipari's pitch: play for me and I'll get you to the NBA.
Now, between Reed and Stephon Castle, the UConn Huskies can make a similar claim. Head coach Dan Hurley has won two national titles, and his alumni network boasts nine active players.
In San Antonio, the UConn and Kentucky players are at a friendly odds. Castle, to his credit, has taken Reed under his wing.
"We definitely shared a couple [Dan] Hurley stories with each other," Castle revealed. "But I mean, Tarris has been great through the open runs. He's looked great. He's rebounding the ball like crazy. He's finishing. His footwork looks sharp. So you can tell he's really been working. It's great to have another Husky in the building to do some trash-talking with me."
Of course, Reed and Castle never played together in Storrs, although Castle has returned to campus a few times. Castle won the 2024 national title, whereas Reed's Husky teams fell short.
Still, Reed was a Big East Sixth Man of the Year and took home All Big-East honors in his senior season. Castle was expected to be a starter right away, and lived up to the hype. Reed, meanwhile, will get to be buried on the bench, at least to start his career.
