By Andrew Wilson
After battling his way through the G League to land a spot on the Washington Wizards roster, University of Maryland students are excited to hear about Julian Reese’s progress.
The G League is where drafted and undrafted players go to develop their skills to decide whether their franchise will bump them up to play in the NBA.
Freshman biochemistry major Paul Wiener discussed what he witnessed when seeing Reese’s performance as a Wizard.
“Honestly, he’s looking pretty good, I can’t lie,” Wiener said. “He’s looking much better now than he was at the beginning.”
Public health science major and Spanish minor Taylynn Taylor suggested the Wizards’ next move for Reese.
“I think he’s done exceptionally well for his first professional experience, especially for how he was performing so far — setting records,” Taylor said. “I think they should definitely explore the idea of having [to extend] a contract.”
During his four-year tenure at UMD, Reese stayed with the program amid head-coaching changes from Mark Turgeon to Danny Manning to Kevin Willard. Before graduating with a bachelor’s degree in human development in 2025, Reese ascended to second in all-time rebounds in program history, grabbing a total of 1,015 and trailing only Len Elmore’s 1,053 all-time rebounds.
Senior government and politics major Josh Cohn witnessed Reese’s loyalty and what his presence meant to the program during the Terps’ 2024-2025 basketball season.
“Number one thing is that I respect his loyalty,” Cohn said. “I’d say his biggest contribution is always being consistent on the boards [rebounds]. It was an awesome part of last year — super electric with the Crab Five.”
Reese’s NBA Journey
The Baltimore native began his NBA journey as an undrafted free agent and signed a one-year non-guaranteed contract with the Los Angeles Lakers on June 25, 2025. When offered a spot on the organization’s NBA Summer League team, Reese played 2 games, averaging four points, three rebounds and 1 assist per game while shooting 50% from the field.
After his Lakers stint, Reese signed another one-year non-guarenteed contract with the Toronto Raptors on Oct. 17, 2025, and played 24 games for the Raptors’ G League affiliate, Raptors 905, averaging 8.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, one assist, 0.9 blocks and 0.7 steals per game while shooting 62.6% from the field.
On Feb. 28, Reese upgraded his contract when he signed a two-way contract with the Washington Wizards and played three games with their G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go.
During his Capital City stint, Reese improved his performance, averaging 17.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, three assists and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 53.7% from the field.
While Reese was playing in the G League, the Washington Wizards called him up to make his official NBA debut against the Houston Rockets on March 2, where he fouled out with two points, four rebounds and three steals, shooting 33.3% from the field.
Starting on a sour note, it was not until March 5 in a game against the Utah Jazz in Capital One Arena that Reese recorded his first double-double, scoring 18 points and grabbing a career-high 20 rebounds.
Junior Arabic studies major and German studies minor Dylan Davis also weighed in on Reese for next season.
“I hope that JuJu [Julian Reese] can kind of carve out his own role on the team, whether that’s coming off the bench — like an impact player,” Davis said. “[He] played for Maryland all four years. I think it would be awesome to have him stick around.”
During the 2025-2026 NBA regular season, Reese played 13 games, averaging 11.8 points, 10.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.4 steals, shooting 52.9% from the field.
“Without a question, I think he’s already proven at the very moment that he is capable of NBA ball,” Wiener added.
Featured Image: The exterior of Xfinity Center on April 6, 2026. Photo by Anika Stikeleather.