Consider June 9 to be Tae-kion Reed’s introduction to the world of college recruiting.
On that day, it was announced on Twitter that the New Hope High School junior had received his first college scholarship offer from Louisiana-Lafayette.
Two days later, another tweet trumpeted Reed’s second offer from Memphis.
An offer from Southern Mississippi rounds out the trifecta Reed has earned from a busy offseason that saw him attend five camps that served to introduce him to college coaches.
New Hope High football coach Kris Pickle believes the three offers are the start of something very big for his 6-foot-5, 275-pounder.
“Like we keep talking to him, and even the college coaches are telling him, this is just the beginning of things,” Pickle said. “He has to keep his head on the right path and realize what has got him here. That is hard work. I think he is headed down the right direction now. I think it took him a long time. I think he always knew he had the potential. I don’t think he realized what he had to do to get to where he wanted to get to, and I don’t think he was real sure he even wanted that.
“I think he sees now that he wants to play in the SEC or Conference USA — that he wants to play Division I football in front of 70,000 or 80,000 people. In order to do that, it takes a special commitment.”
Reed flashed that potential last season as a member of a New Hope team that won 10 games and advanced to the second round of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A North State playoffs.
This season, Pickle and the Trojans will look to Reed to take on a bigger role on both sides of the ball. Reed will need to play on the offensive and defensive lines in part due to the fact New Hope lost 26 seniors to graduation. Reed’s role also will increase because he has matured as a player and appears poised to become more serious about realizing his potential.
“I think when we first got here he was really immature,” Pickle said. “I think he will tell you the same thing. He was a ninth-grader who was going to be a 10th-grader. He played around in the classroom.
He was silly in the classroom and it finally started clicking with him that if I get my grades up and the size that I have.”
Reed agrees he has buckled down in the classroom. He also said he is avoiding trouble and controlling himself better so he can focus on his schoolwork and football. He feels that is the perfect
formula to help him earn even more college offers.
“I am going to stay humble and try not to brag and boast,” Reed said. “I am going to stay down to earth about it and let the good Lord make his way for me.”
Reed said he thinks about staying on the right path because one mistake could erase all of the attention he has earned. After a overcoming a series of challenges on and off the field as a freshman,
Reed, whose grandfather is Columbus martial arts instructor Oliver Miller, understands how quickly something can be taken away. He hopes the lessons he has learned in his first two years at New Hope High will help keep him focused.
“I was in a lot of trouble as a teenager,” Reed said. “I was in and out of alternative school and making bad decisions. They weren’t too bad that I could be punished for them, but I was in and out of alternative school my whole elementary school years. It made me think about my future and what am I going to be doing when I become a teenager and a young adult.
“I started thinking about my future, and football was something I was always good at. I used to fight a lot, so my mom (Katrina Reed) put me in football for pee wee. My coaches always used to tell me I was a good player, and I had size. I just started to use that to my advantage to get by in football. It worked. Now I am just trying to stay on a good path and try to make good decisions so when I get out of high school I can make even better decisions to better myself for my future.”
Pickle has seen the results when Reed makes better decisions. He said he has seen Reed more committed in the classroom and in the weight room. He feels the focus has added to Reed’s confidence because he has grown stronger, which has helped him make an even bigger impression on college coaches. Pickle hopes Reed will stay on the path he is on because he believes there is no telling where Reed could go if he continues to work hard.
“I expect this year to be that guy all year long that we talk about,” Pickle said. “If you’re going to be that guy that is going to be a dominating player who is going to go to the SEC, they want to see you play and dominate from the first snap to the last snap.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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