Brownell on Health of Duke Transfer Christian Reeves, Role for Upcoming Season

CHARLOTTE – One of the bigger splashes Brad Brownell made in the transfer portal over the offseason was snagging former Duke big man Christian Reeves.

Coming out of high school (Oak Hill Academy, Charlotte), Rivals ranked the 7-foot-1 center a 4-star talent and No. 119 overall. Those kinds of rankings can lead to lofty expectations, but Reeves’ two seasons at Duke were marred by injury.

After appearing in 13 games as a true freshman, Reeves was limited to just two a season ago. Since his arrival at Clemson, Brownell and his coaching staff have tried to manage his schedule in an effort to keep him as healthy as possible.

“More good days than bad in terms of his health,” Brownell said at the ACC Tipoff in Charlotte. “He’s got ankles that have had problems so there are days that we got to give him off now and then, but for the most part he is doing well.”

While Brownell isn’t relying on Reeves to come in and start, he is hoping the big man can play a key role coming off the bench.

“He is a big guy,” Brownell added. “He has good hands. I would love to see him play ten minutes a game this year. That would be a win.”

Brownell did such a good job at managing the portal over the offseason, that he doesn’t need Reeves to come in and play starters minutes. The addition of Viktor Lakhin from Cincinnati, to go along with veteran Ian Schieffelin, gives Tigers have plenty of size. Brownell also brought in 6-foot-8 forward Myles Foster, who played at Illinois State last season after spending his first three at Monmouth.

That means Reeves can be brought along at a slower pace if need be and right now some of the most important things are getting his confidence back and adding the strength needed to play down low in the ACC.

“He has played so little basketball in the last couple of years,” Brownell said. “You not only forget and get used to the speed of the game and everything that goes with it. The physicality. The day-to-day grind. And I think sometimes, and what I am finding out now, is that when you are 7-foot-1, as big as they are, the wear and tear on your body is even more. We have to do a good job as a staff of monitoring that and I think we have to this point. We really took his development, from when he got to campus, slow. To try and build his confidence back, to have success, to get strength where he needed it.”

“I think he is doing some good things and I am optimistic that he is going to be a good contributor for us this year.”

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