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KU Players Visit Camps PDF Print E-mail
Sports
Written by David Wolman   
Wednesday, 08 July 2009 13:18
University of Kansas guard Tyrel Reed can certainly relate to the nearly 60 young hoopsters who attended last week’s NAIA and NCAA Triple Threat basketball camps at Osawatomie High School.

Like the campers, Reed grew up in a small town. He was born in Eureka before settling in Burlington, an even smaller town than Osawatomie. Like Osawatomie, Burlington has a newspaper, the Coffey County Republican. But with a lack of major market television stations, Reed wasn’t afforded as much exposure as big-city athletes.

“It was a battle, but I was fortunate enough to play with a good summer team where I got good recognition and had a lot of college coaches watching me play,” he said. “You just have to step out of your comfort zone being from a smaller school. There’s going to be bigger kids, there’s going to be bigger programs. You just can’t back down from anything. It just taught me perseverance through the years.”
The camp gave Reed a chance to give back. He was once in the campers’ shoes. He shared messages about being a winner in the classroom and a positive teammate. Not to mention giving plenty of high-fives, signing autographs and providing instruction on offensive and defensive drills when he visited July 1. KU’s Conner Teahen, an Overland Park native, made a guest appearance June 30.

Reed played for his father, Burlington head coach Stacy Reed, while in high school, and they experienced plenty of success. Burlington went 96-4 in Tyrel’s four seasons at Burlington, winning the Class 3A state title his freshman season.

When KU needed a boost off the bench this past season, they came to rely on Reed’s sharpshooting from behind the arc. And he made opponents pay for leaving him wide open.

Reed’s father worked with Tyrel on his game a lot when he was a kid, but he really committed himself to improving his shot once he entered high school. Tyrel spent three to four hours per day in the gym. He woke up at 6 a.m. every morning and shot jump shots for one hour and then for two to three hours after school, in addition to lifting weights.

“I really never kept track of how many shots I took,” Reed said. “A lot, though.”

Burlington’s success helped Reed to get noticed by Kansas City Pump and Run coach LJ Goolsby. The Pump and Run are an Amateur Athletic Union team based in Kansas City, which competes against other teams in the country during the summer.

“Someone mentioned to him I was a good player down at a small school and he came and watched me play,” Reed said. “He knew my skills were good enough to play against anybody.”

Reed played in all-star games when he was younger, but he was starting to get more attention on a national level. He played in tournaments in major cities such as Atlanta, Las Vegas and Orlando, and he even got the opportunity to play against current Miami Heat and former Kansas State forward Michael Beasley. That’s in addition to being selected to participate in the Adidas All-Star Game in Louisville.

“It was a lot of fun,” Reed said. “I got to compete against all the best players in the (NBA) Draft last year — O.J. Mayo, Eric Gordon ... I played against every one of them.”

The message from Reed to the Triple Threat campers was simple: “Just being from a small school, anybody can make it.”
“It gives them hope,” he said. “It shows that hard work does pay off.”
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