Tarris Reed Jr., a center for the UConn Huskies, thanked Jesus despite his team falling to the Michigan Wolverines, 69-63, in the NCAA National Championship Game.
“It sucks to be in this position, but through wins and losses, I just thank the Lord for it all,” Reed told reporters after the loss on Monday. “I’m a big man of faith in Jesus. Everything happens for a reason.”
The senior scored 13 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in his final game as a collegiate athlete.
Just 24 hours after the team returned to campus, Reed gave his testimony at UConn’s Athletes in Action meeting. He kept it honest in an Instagram post that included his speech, sharing how he has been “wrestling with God” and that not winning the championship game “hurts.”
“I’ve been wrestling with God about this all day, really the past 24 hours. It’s been one of the hardest, yet most peaceful and freeing, stretches of my life,” he said.
“Coming to terms with the fact that the college basketball journey I’ve been chasing since I was a little kid is over hurts,” he continued. “Losing the biggest game of my entire basketball career hurts. Knowing how hard I worked and the sacrifices I made just to be in that position, and still coming up short, it hurts.”
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“At the same time, I’m reminded to be content in every situation,” Reed said. “Looking back at the game, I know I gave it my all, but I still see the mistakes I made. I want to be better. I tend to be a perfectionist, but only Jesus was perfect. So it’s been tough wrestling with that.”
“After everything, flying back and moving on from the game, I felt like Jesus put it on my heart to go to an Athletes in Action meeting and even to speak. I didn’t want to speak,” he added. “We got back late, around 5 p.m., and the meeting was at 7, so I barely had time to prepare anything.”
Reed said, “But I told myself I would let the Holy Spirit speak through me.”
Reed shared that he was glad he went and that two members of the women’s basketball team were baptized.
Tarris Reed Jr. Gives His Testimony Less Than 24 Hours After Losing the Biggest Game of His Life
“Yeah, it’s been a wild, wild 24 hours, if that. So, I mean, feeling on top of the world, to now it’s just like, feel like everything’s just trying to come full circle,” Reed said. “I felt like it was on my heart after the game, just go out here and speak, and speak for the Lord, what he’s done in my life and what he could do in your guys’ lives.”
Growing up in a Christian household, attending church and a Catholic high school, Reed shared how he came to realize he had made basketball his idol.
