4-Star C Tristan Reed Picks Mississippi State Over Mizzou

The Tigers missed out on a potential fourth commitment in their 2026 class to a different SEC squad.

2026 4-Star Center Tristan Reed during his official visit to Columbia | Credit @_.tristanreed on Instagram

The Missouri Tigers missed out on the commitment of four-star center Tristan Reed, a St. Louis native. Reed is headed to Mississippi State to play for head coach Chris Jans, he announced Saturday.

Reed is ranked as the No. 80 player in the country, according to composite rankings. The 6-foot-9, 230-pound big man is also the ninth-best center in the country and the fifth-best player in the state of Missouri. Reed attends Link Academy in Branson, Missouri.

Reed chose the Bulldogs over Missouri, Michigan State, Ohio State and Maryland. The top-100 big man took official visits to all of those schools during his recruitment process.

NEWS: 4⭐️ Tristan Reed has committed to Mississippi State, he tells @Rivals.

The 6-9 center chose the Bulldogs over Michigan State, Maryland, Missouri, and Ohio State. https://t.co/CRxbtGu8vB pic.twitter.com/XgOlJ95gzC

— Joe Tipton (@JoeTipton) November 1, 2025

Reed heading to Starkville gives the Bulldogs four total commitments in the 2026 class, joining four-star forward Jalyn Collingwood, four-star guard Willie Burnett III and four-star center Ladarius Givens.

The commitment of Reed would've been the fourth commitment in the class of 2026 for Dennis Gates and the Tigers. The three prior have helped Gates earn the current second-ranked recruiting class in the country for the 2026 season.

It also appears as if Missouri is going to miss out on four-star Center Ethan Taylor. Taylor is teammates with Reed at Link Academy and grew up in Shawnee Mission, Kansas. Taylor was considering the Tigers for a while, but that no longer appears to be the case.

Five-star guard Jason Crowe Jr. is the best of the bunch so far for the Tigers. He's ranked ninth in composite rankings, while being fourth at his position and in the state of California. Missouri then added another composite five-star recruit in Zephyrhills, Florida, native, Toni Bryant. Bryant is the No. 21 player in the country.

This hot recruiting period for Gates and the Tigers appears to be done after missing out on Reed. Taylor does not look like he will end up in a Missouri Tigers uniform at the moment, leaving Gates with his three prized top-100 commitments.

Missouri will have the potential to land some big fish in the class of 2027 if it is done in 2026. Guys like five-star guard King Gibson and four-star forward Cameron Barnes, a Missouri native, could be the next guys up.

2026 Basketball Commitments

1. PG Jason Crowe Jr., 6-foot-3, 170 lbs. - Inglewood, California (Committed 07/18/2025)
2. PF Toni Bryant, 6-foot-9, 215 lbs. - Zephyrhills, Florida (Committed 09/08/2025)
3. SF Aidan Chronister, 6-foot-7, 180 lbs. - Fayetteville, Arkansas (Committed 09/21/2025)