Dusty May hopes Jalen Reed finds new life at Michigan

Former LSU forward Jalen Reed has long had a lot of promise, yet it's gone unfulfilled, as he's struggled mightily with injuries since he joined the Tigers. Having only played in 14 games in the past two seasons -- six just last year -- the fifth-year player hasn't quite been able to stay healthy enough to be a consistent impact player.

Yet, as Dusty May's Michigan has thus far been a place where bench players and the like can come and establish themselves (Morez Johnson Jr. and Aday Mara are the most recent proofs of concept), the hope is that Reed can have a bit of a career resurgence in his final year of college basketball.

On Wednesday, May discussed why the Wolverines targeted Reed in the transfer portal, sharing what his expectations are and what the maize and blue hope to get out of him.

"Right now, obviously, you know all the risk and the give and take with everyone that you sign," May said. "But with Jalen, we felt like if he can get back to full strength and healthy, he's a really good basketball player. We're also gonna be very patient with him and his timetable to make sure he's back, ready to go. We also have a lot of faith in our sports science department and Matt and Chris to invest the time and the professional expertise that they have to get him back to playing at the level he's playing at. We thought he was a very, very good take because he could certainly outperform his expectations if he's healthy. And if he's not as healthy as early as we'd hope, then we'll have the depth to overcome that. But he's a talented young man and a great human being."

Thus far, Reed's best season statistically was 2024-25, when he appeared in eight games and averaged 11.1 points per game, along with 6.5 rebounds. The last full season he played was the year before, when he played 22 minutes per game, averaging 7.9 points and 4.1 rebounds. Last year, in the six games he played, he was averaging 9.5 points per game and 5.7 rebounds.