Tyrel Reed Represents KU at Recent NCAA National Student-Athlete Development Conference
June 26, 2009
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas men’s basketball junior-to-be Tyrel Reed attended the 2009 NCAA National Student-Athlete Development Conference at the Walt Disney World Coronado Spring Resort in Orlando, Fla., May 24-27.
The NCAA hosted more than 700 student-athletes in a forum to discuss topics that affect them on their campuses and in their communities, while also providing them with an opportunity to enhance their leadership skills.
“There were students from Division I, Division II and Division III, and we all came together in the same room,” Reed explained. “It was a lot of fun. We talked about different leadership qualities and did different activities, some team-building type stuff. There were a lot of different seminars about sportsmanship and a lot of different leadership roles that we would take on on our campus. There were a lot of people there, a lot of different networking. I got to meet probably 50 different people and got 50 new Facebook friends. It was just a lot of fun.”
Reed said that he learned many things that he could bring back with him to KU.
“They gave us a big handbook where we went through a lot of different stuff,” Reed said. “It was all about leadership, like how your personality is and what you need to do to be a better leader. We set goals of what we want to bring back to our campus, and hopefully when the school year starts I can really try to get more involved on campus.”
Along with the educational experience, Reed said an added bonus was getting to meet new people and make new friends.
“My roommate was named Guillermo,” Reed said. “He’s from Brazil. He plays water polo at a Division III school in the northeast. So big school or small school, we all have the same goals. We want to be the best leaders we can be.
“On the flight out there, I met a golfer from K-State,” Reed added. “He was a really cool kid. There was another golfer from Central Missouri and a women’s basketball player from Emporia State. All four of us were on the same flight out there and we got to be really close, really good friends. I even plan on going to play golf with the guy from K-State later on this month.”
Now that he is back in Lawrence, Reed plans to focus on being a better leader on and off the court.
“As soon as things calm down a little bit, I plan to try to bring back some of the qualities and some of the things we talked about and try to institute it into being a better leader on the team and on campus,” Reed explained. “I’m a junior now. I’ve had two years here at KU. I know what to expect from Coach (Bill) Self, from the fans and from my teammates. I just feel a lot more comfortable in the system.
“I definitely feel after going to that conference and after being under Coach Self for a couple years that I’m a lot more confident, and I feel like I can assume that leadership role,” Reed said. “I need to be more vocal. That’s probably the biggest key for me. I try to lead by example a lot, but sometimes you just have to step in there and say what you really feel and hopefully other people will follow what you say.”
An Academic All-Big 12 First Team selection in 2009, Reed started two games and averaged 6.5 points as a sophomore and was one of the first off the bench on KY’s 27-8 team which won its fifth straight Big 12 Conference regular-season title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. His freshman year Reed played in 23 contests and averaged two points in KU’s 2008 NCAA National Championship season.
