When recruiting Jordan Reed, Binghamton’s coaching staff saw raw talent but couldn’t anticipate Reed’s competitive drive.
It wasn’t long after the freshman guard donned the green and white for the first time that BU knew it had something special.
“The thing in recruiting that comes so hard at times is what’s on the inside — you don’t always have a great feel for that,” Binghamton head coach Tommy Dempsey said. “You try to get a feel for what’s on the inside as best you can, but what you normally evaluate in recruiting is what you can see. What I’m learning about Jordan is that he’s got a huge heart, a huge competitive desire. He wants to be great, and he’s coachable. Those are things that separate guys at this level.”
In his rookie season, Reed has thrust himself atop the scouting reports of opposing America East teams. His 16.7 points per game are good for second in the conference, while his 9.6 rebounds per game have landed him in first. No other guard in the entire nation has posted a higher rebounding average.
Reed has also received America East Rookie of the Week honors six times this season and is very much in the conversation for AE Rookie of the Year.
“I was a little bit of a surprise coming into the America East,” Reed said. “They didn’t really know what I was capable of.”
As a senior at Wissahickon High School in Ambler, Pa., Reed averaged 24.5 points per game. He led the Trojans to a 22-6 record, their first conference title in eight years and their first PIAA state tournament berth in six years.
But now that the secret’s out and Reed is clearly BU’s focal point on offense, the freshman has looked to get his teammates more involved. His 39 assists have him at second on the team behind senior point guard Jimmy Gray.
“I feel like I’m ultimately going to need my team’s help because I’ve had high-scoring games before, but it’s not all about that,” Reed said. “Sometimes you have to have everybody on the same gear because you need more than one scorer to win games. When other people score and when I get other people involved … I feel like we’re a hard team to stop when we play all together.”
Still, Reed knows he has a lot to learn and has a long way to go in his development as a basketball player. Despite the Bearcats’ struggle to find the win column this year, Reed has remained optimistic about the future of the program and continues to push himself so that he can be at his full potential if and when BU becomes a viable threat.
“When I came into it, I didn’t know that we would be in this predicament,” Reed said. “It’s stressful, but at the same time I just want to finish out the season strong, and I’m really looking forward to next year. I just feel like it’s a matter of time before Binghamton becomes a powerhouse in the America East conference.”
A perfect example of Reed’s perseverance this season came in the team’s Feb. 17 matchup against Maine. After scoring only three points on 0-10 shooting from the floor in the first half, Reed had a talk with assistant coach Ben Luber at halftime. Luber has worked with Reed all season long, helping him to get his jump shot more consistent. In the second half, Reed came out and exploded for 26 points and pulled down 11 of his 17 rebounds.
It’s been that kind of season for Reed, who averages 35.1 minutes per game but only owns a 39 percent mark from the field. There are times when his shot isn’t falling, and times when he can’t miss. If Reed can become more consistent with his jump shot, he’ll be that much tougher of an assignment for opponents.
“I feel like I had my ups and downs,” Reed said. “I had some great games and some not so good games, but that all comes along with me understanding how college basketball is on this level … I just feel like anything that’s thrown at me, I can just get with my coaches and we can figure out what I did wrong and what can I do better.”
Ultimately, it’s Reed’s pure ability combined with his passion for the game that will dictate his future success at Binghamton. If this season is at all the beginning of an upward trend, Reed will be giving his competitors headaches for a long time.