EXCLUSIVE: What Makes Elite MSU Hoops Target So Special?
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- For South Bend Washington head coach Ryan Varga, Steven Reynolds appeared on the radar at eight years old. Reynolds' father, Steve, is the girls' basketball coach (a state championship-winning coach).
It was around the third or fourth-grade level, Varga said, that he would notice Reynolds shooting in the gym or around the locker room. It wasn't so much that Reynolds was already active with the sport. It was how he was doing it that caught Varga's eye.
"I mean, he was shooting 3s at a very young age," Varga told me. "He's always out there, just always has a ball in his hand. You could definitely tell -- a coach's son. And one that's been around the game a long time. All of his sisters are playing [two, Amiyah and Mila, are currently at Purdue, and Kira is on her way], so he's sitting at the edge of the bench. It's funny, I was going through film from my first year, about eight years ago, and there he is right at the edge of the bench. So it's kind of full circle that he's in the position he is right now."
The position Reynolds is in is No. 1. That's his ranking among Indiana prospects in the 2026 class. Nationally, he is a Top 60 player, per 247Sports Composite rankings. He has offers to major basketball programs, including Michigan State.
What makes him so special?
"He has the background, he's seen the game, he knows how to play the game," Varga said. "He's learned from his siblings and obviously his parents. Definitely a basketball family, so when they're leaving the gym they are at home talking about it and then on days off they're in here working. From the standpoint of having to coach that, it's great because a lot of things you have to explain to players you don't have to do for him. From the jump he just gets it."
Varga said that Reynolds' IQ is "off the charts."
"Almost to the point where he's ahead, so it can kind of be his downfall too because his teammates are still trying to catch up to him," he said. "But he does an excellent job of coaching them up and getting them where they need to be. You could say anything you want about him shooting. He can shoot it from anywhere. Tremendous mid-range shooter. Which, you know, the analytics tell you not to get to that mid-range, but with him, there isn't a mid-range shot that he takes that I don't think is going in.
"He is a very underrated passer. He can really pass the ball. I've never seen anybody rebound and put the outlet pass right in the breadbasket for a layup more than he does. So just having an extra coach on the floor who is very skilled makes things kind of look easy, makes me look a heck of a lot better."
Michael France is Sports Illustrated's Michigan State recruiting beat writer, covering all things Big Ten recruiting for Spartan Nation. Be sure to follow him on Twitter/X@michaelfrancesi for exclusive Spartans recruiting coverage.
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