7-Foot German Star and UConn Commit Eric Reibe Dominates DMV Basketball with Sights Set on the NBA

Bullis School standout Eric Reibe, inspired by Dirk Nowitzki, combines size, skill, and work ethic to build his path to the NBA, starting at UConn next season.

German born Eric Reibe, a 7-foot sensation for Bullis School has committed to UConn as he pursues his dreams of playing in the NBA. / Eric Reibe Instagram

Eric Reibe is a 7-foot-tall senior center from Germany who plays for the Bullis School boys basketball team in Potomac, Maryland. For two years now, he has been turning heads on the Washington, D.C. high school basketball scene with one goal in mind: To play in the NBA someday.

“It was always my dream to go to the NBA,” said Reibe. “I wanted to play high school and get used to the physicality and the speed of the game, then go to college, and then develop, be the best player I can be on and off the court, and then make it to the NBA.”

Reibe was born on June 29, 2006 in Hannover, Germany to parents Martina and Carsten Reibe. Carsten works for the company Roche, where he leads services and, while Martina doesn’t work, but according to Eric, she just joined the Fire Brigade in Dornach, Basel for fun.

Reibe grew up in Germany until he was 14. When he was eight years old, he moved to Switzerland which is where he began playing basketball and was coached by Nemanja Calasan, a Swiss star of Serbian descent who a big man with Purdue in the Big 10 from 2007-2009. He spent eight years in Switzerland before returning to Germany when he was 14. He eventually moved to the U.S. when he was 16.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Eric Reibe (@ereibe_22)

“It was a great experience that gave me the fundamentals of basketball,” Reibe said about playing in Switzerland. “I had a great coach there who taught me the basics.”

Reibe always wanted to play hoops, but in Germany, you could not play basketball until you were eight, in order to play in a club. “I had to fill in other sports,” said Reibe. “But I always wanted to play basketball. It was always my sport.”

When Reibe was younger, one of his basketball idols was German basketball star, Dallas Mavericks legend, and NBA Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki.

“When I was in Germany, we heard of the main superstars like LeBron and Michael Jordan,” said Reibe. “But who I really looked up to was Dirk Nowitzki obviously, and also Kevin Durant.”

Even as a seven-foot big man who can attack the rim, the 18-year-old has also shown that he can shoot from the perimeter, with his play being compared to NBA player Kristaps Porzingis.

“I try to create my own kind of style,” said Reibe. “People say that I play like [Kristaps] Porzingis sometimes, shooting, dribbling, and passing, being out on the perimeter.”

Reibe also has some accomplishments on his resume. In 2022, he led Germany to victory over Finland in the U16 European Championship. In 2023, he won a bronze medal in FIBA’s U18 EuroBasket and was named Player of the Game. Most recently, he played for Orange Academy Ulm in German ProB.

In January 2023, Reibe enrolled at Bullis School and joined the varsity boys basketball team, where he has been a part of back-to-back Interstate Athletic Conference (IAC) Basketball Championships as a sophomore in 2023 and a junior in 2024.

“It’s been a great experience,” said Reibe. “The relationships that I’ve built with all the players and the coaches, meeting the players every day in class. I’m definitely going to keep these relationships for a long time.”

One person who has really helped Reibe with getting to that next level is Bullis head coach Bruce Kelley, who has coached the Bulldogs for 21 years, starting in the 2004-2005 school year.

“It’s been such a joy,” said Kelley. “He’s extremely dedicated to the game. He’s got big goals for this game. He comes to practice every day ready to work, prepare, and get better. What I truly love about him is that he allows me and my fellow coaches to coach him. There are some players who have big reps and high rankings that feel like they’ve already made it and don’t respond well to coaching. Eric has just been absolutely wonderful allowing us to coach him and work him hard to get better.”

This past Friday night, Bullis beat Flint Hill (Virginia), 73-65. However, Reibe was inactive due to hyperextending his left knee in practice the night before. Luckily, it was just a minor injury as he only missed that one game. He returned the next day for the Bulldogs’ 68-54 win over Largo (Maryland).

Eric Reibe watched last Friday's Bullis School victory over Flint Hill (Va.) from the bench in street clothes after suffering a minor injury the day before in practice. He returned to action on Saturday in a win over Largo (Maryland). / Harry Lichtman

Back on October 16, Reibe announced that he committed to playing college hoops at the University of Connecticut, even after visiting other programs like Indiana and Oregon. One particular reason is that he is a fan of the school’s men’s basketball head coach Dan Hurley, who coached the Huskies to back-to-back national championships in 2023 and 2024.

“I just love Coach Hurley and how intense he is, and what his plan is for me when I come in next year as a freshman,” said Reibe. “I love the players, they’re all really good people.”

Coach Kelley also approved of Reibe’s decision to play at UConn, citing Coach Hurley as a reason for future success.

“I’m so happy for him,” said Kelley. “He just believes that Coach Hurley is going to be able to bring him to that next step. The track record has been there, and he just felt that that’s where he wanted to go to best accomplish his dreams.”

Got our guy 💪 https://t.co/bHgU7yh8ha pic.twitter.com/wpipUnu2i6

— UConn Men's Basketball (@UConnMBB) November 21, 2024

Reibe’s UConn decision also received the attention of Huskies women’s basketball star Paige Bueckers, who gave him a follow on Instagram.

“We knew each other because of our trainer, Darren McClinton,” Reibe stated about Bueckers. “She always shows up in workouts. I knew her a little bit before. When I’m over in Connecticut, we plan to hang out.”

Over the years, the DMV has been known for young talent who have become exciting professional athletes, such as Kevin Durant and Katie Ledecky, as Reibe looks to continue that trend.

“I feel like, every year, a bunch of current athletes come out here,” said Reibe. “I feel like the DMV is like the heart of basketball. There are always a bunch of players who are going to be pros.”