Reed excels in good times and bad

By By Will Bardwell / staff writer
Feb. 23, 2004
OXFORD It wasn't supposed to end like this for Justin Reed.
The 6-foot-8, 240-pound power forward arrived at Ole Miss in 2000 as arguably the top prospect in school history. Both his skill and his statistics have improved with each passing season.
Yet each year, despite his impressive numbers, Reed's Rebels have come by fewer and fewer of the statistics he wants most wins.
During his freshman year in 2000-01, Reed was a key part of Ole Miss' 27-8 season, which ended in the NCAA Tournament's Sweet Sixteen. As a sophomore, Reed averaged 14.6 points and pulled down 6.6 rebounds per game, but the Rebels struggled before being blown out by UCLA in the first round of the Big Dance.
Last year, although Reed averaged 15.4 points and shot nearly 49 percent from the floor, Ole Miss suffered through a dismal 14-15 season the first since 1996 in which the Rebels missed out on a postseason tournament.
And this year, despite Reed's domination of most opponents, the Rebels are struggling just to stay out of the cellar in the Southeastern Conference's Western Division.
Still, Reed said his competitive drive and support from fans keep him going, hard times or not.
He has been a regular recipient of greeting cards from Magnolia Elementary School, and to Reed, that kind of affection from fans has been most important off the hardwood.
In September 2002, Reed was arrested for misdemeanor assault following an altercation at a skating rink in Oxford. The charges were dropped in April 2003, but only after Reed played his entire junior season under a cloud of legal uncertainty.
Though Barnes punished Reed by suspending him for two exhibition games to begin that season, Reed said his coach was a pillar of support during a trying time.
The Provine Posse
Reed's legal mess was the low point of a career that was ordained as soon as he arrived on campus. The high-profile product of Provine High School in Jackson, Reed was the state's top prospect when he committed to Auburn in 1999.
But teammate Aaron Harper, Provine's star sharpshooter, decided to go to Ole Miss. So did David Sanders, who graduated from Provine a year ahead of Reed and Harper and played at a Florida junior college at the time.
Reed was tempted to join them. And when Provine head coach Wayne Brent was hired by Barnes as an assistant for the Rebels, the temptation was unbearable. Reed dropped his commitment to Auburn and signed with his high school teammates at Ole Miss.
The Provine Posse was born.
Together, the three Provine alumni changed the face and fortunes of Ole Miss basketball almost immediately. In 2001, their first season in Oxford, the three helped lead the Rebels to two NCAA Tournament wins before losing to eventual runner-up Arizona.
Ole Miss won 27 games that season the most in school history. Reed was named Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, and was named to the Associated Press All-SEC third team.
The success was nothing new to the Provine trio, who won a state championship and twice were state runners-up during high school.
With two seasons left together, the Provine Posse's future looked bright.
But in 2002, the Rebels declined. Though Reed, Harper and Sanders each improved their scoring averages and shooting percentages, Ole Miss lost seven of its last 10 games, including a blowout loss to UCLA in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
It was the last ride for the Provine Posse.
The Rebels suffered through a 14-15 campaign in 2003 which included a 10-game losing streak that lasted nearly a month and a half. Sanders shot just 1-of-7 in his last game with the Rebels, a nine-point loss to archrival Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament.
The End Draws Near
Now, only Reed and Harper are left. While they are two of the league's top scorers Reed ranks second in the SEC with 18.6 points per game, and Harper is ninth with 16.2 and while Ole Miss has rebounded from a disastrous 2003 with a 12-11 record (4-8 in the SEC), it is far from the Top 10 finish Reed enjoyed as a freshman.
A third NCAA Tournament appearance for Reed is virtually out of reach. More realistically, a respectable finish to the season could earn the Rebels a winning record and a berth in the National Invitational Tournament.
Reed leaves Ole Miss with an uncertain future, but Barnes said he also leaves a legacy that may not be fully appreciated for years.