Tyrel Reed Named Mr. Jayhawk at Kansas Men's Basketball Banquet
April 11, 2011
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Senior Tyrel Reed highlighted the annual Kansas men’s basketball banquet before a capacity crowd of more than 600 at the Holiday Inn Lawrence Monday evening.
Following a welcome from Director of Athletics Dr. Sheahon Zenger, dinner and a highlight video, Kansas head coach Bill Self recognized his coaching and support staffs, talked about each of his players and the remarkable 2010-11 season. Kansas went 35-3 on the season, won its school-record seventh straight and 11th Big 12 regular-season championship, its eighth Big 12 postseason title, was ranked in the top five for 15 weeks and entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 seed for the second-straight year. Additionally, KU won the Las Vegas Invitational in November and the 2010-11 Jayhawks were part of a school-record 69-game home court winning streak that ranks as the 11th longest in NCAA history.
“To think that where a lot of people projected this group to finish – anywhere from second to fifth in our league; to think the level that these guys performed at all year long, spoiled us. In my opinion, we had the best team in America,” Kansas head coach Bill Self said.
“When you stop and think about this team, and particularly the seniors, and what they have accomplished is mindboggling,” Self said. “Stop and think about it, Brady Morningstar – 165 and 22; Tyrel Reed – 132 and 17; and Rio (Mario Little) in his three years was 95 and 14. That’s an unprecedented thing that doesn’t happen all the time.”
Self then named Reed the recipient of the Danny Manning “Mr. Jayhawk” Award.
Reed is the winningest player in KU history with a 132-17 record in his four seasons at Kansas. He was named 2011 All-Big 12 Honorable Mention and was KU’s third-leading scorer with 9.7 points per contest average. A Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award All-America First Team, Reed was named Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team this season. He was also a three-time Academic All-Big 12 First Team selection and led Kansas with 72 threes made this season, making multiple threes in 23 games. Reed also led KU with 56 steals. He was the only Jayhawk to start every game in 2010-11 and he also led the team with an 80.0 percent free throw percentage. Reed graduated from KU in December and has been accepted into KU Medicine’s physical therapy school.
“It is a pretty cool award but I think everyone on this team is deserving of an award like that,” Reed said. “I’m so proud of our seniors – Brady and Mario. They exemplify everything that this program stands for and I am so proud of them as well. I would also like to thank all my teammates. I love all you guys. It’s been an amazing career and an amazing ride this year. “
“This is an amazing award,” Reed added “I’m a Kansas kid and I really lived my dream. When I grew up wanting to play for this university and just have the opportunity to wear the crimson and blue for four years. It’s been a blessing and a dream come true.”
Following the event, players and coaches signed autographs for the many patrons in attendance.
