Long Island Lutheran's Jayden Reid has committed to South Florida
Long Island Lutheran's Jayden Reid in the 2023 New York State Federation Tournament of Champions Class AA boys basketball semifinal against Victor. Credit: Hans Pennink
Jayden Reid had a bountiful final season of high school basketball. The 5-11 senior guard from Long Island Lutheran guided his team to a 23-3 record and the New York State Federation Class AA championship. He scored his 1,000th career point and helped the Crusaders earn a spot in the GEICO national championship tournament. And Reid was selected to Newsday’s All-Long Island first team for a second straight year.
The Westbury product will begin a new basketball chapter next fall at the University of South Florida. Reid announced in a social media post on Wednesday afternoon that he has committed to the Bulls. He chose South Florida and first-year coach Amir Abdur-Rahim after visits to the Tampa campus as well as Tulane and Seattle and before a scheduled trip to SMU.
“They really showed me how much they want me,” Reid told Newsday. “The new head coach was the one making all the calls to me and I will have the chance to compete for the starting job as a freshman. This was the best decision for me.”
Reid was committed to VCU and coach Mike Rhoades before Rhoades was hired by Penn State. While Reid described the relationship between him and Rhoades as “very close,” the Nittany Lions were a less attractive spot because of the number of returning guards on the roster.
Reid averaged 15.6 points and 6.1 assists this season. At the Federation tournament, where Lutheran beat state public school champ Victory by 29 points and state Catholic champion Stepinac by 24 points, Reid averaged 21.5 points, five assists and five steals.
“I wouldn’t say [Long Island Lutheran] was interested in me out of eighth grade, but growing up in Westbury and knowing that LuHi was the best brand of basketball in New York, it was always where I had hoped to go,” Reid said. “I made the team as a freshman and built my minutes over time until I could [develop] to be a starter.”
Reid described the 2022-23 Crusaders as “the best team I’ve been a part of” with UConn commit Jayden Ross, Newsday 2023 Long Island Player of the Year VJ Edgecombe and an array of others destined to play Division I basketball.
“It was everything I wanted in a [final] year,” Reid said. “Now, I can’t wait for my first year of college basketball.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
