Julian Reese (born June 30, 2003) is an American professional basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Laketown Squadron of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Maryland Terrapins.
Early life and high school Coming out of high school, Reese was rated as a four-star recruit and committed to play college basketball for the Maryland Terrapins.
College career As a freshman in 2021-22, Reese averaged 5.7 points and 4.4 rebounds in 17.7 minutes per game. Ahead of the 2022-23 season, he became a full-time starter for the Terrapins. On February 16, 2023, Reese helped the Terrapins to an upset win over #3 Purdue. He finished the 2022-23 season averaging 11.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game, earning All-Big Ten honorable mention.
In 2023-24, Reese averaged 13.7 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game and earned all-Big Ten honorable mention. On November 11, 2024, he put up 21 points and nine rebounds in a victory over Florida A&M. On January 23, 2025, Reese put up 27 points, 17 rebounds, and three blocks in a blowout win over Illinois. On January 29, he put up 14 points and eight rebounds in a victory over Wisconsin. On March 5, Reese tallied six points and four rebounds in a win over Michigan.
Professional career After going undrafted in the 2025 NBA draft, Reese joined the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2025 NBA Summer League. On October 17, 2025, Reese signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Toronto Raptors.
On February 28, 2026, Reese was signed to a two-way contract by the Washington Wizards. His first game with the team came two days later, against the Houston Rockets, where he was pressed into service as the Wizards' starting center as all the team's other big men were out with injury. Reese went 1-for-3 in shooting on the night, earning his first two points as an NBA player, in addition to four rebounds and three steals. Reese also committed three turnovers and fouled out after almost 28 minutes that same night. On March 5, Reese put up a double-double with 18 points and 20 rebounds, 10 offensive and 10 defensive, in a 122–112 loss to the Utah Jazz. He became the first player since Antawn Jamison in 2010 to put up 10 offensive and 10 defensive rebounds in a game in Wizards franchise history. On March 25, Reese had another double-double with 26 points, 17 rebounds, a steal, and a block across 30 minutes of a 133-110 win over the Jazz.
On August 20, 2026, Reese was traded to the Denver Nuggets. However, he was released by the Nuggets on August 28.
Personal life Reese is the brother of WNBA All-Star Angel Reese. Reese's mother played college basketball for UMBC, where she was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame and her number 10 jersey was retired. She later played professionally in Luxembourg, Reese's father, Michael Reese, played basketball for Boston College and Loyola (Maryland) before embarking on a professional career in Luxembourg, Cyprus, Austria, and Portugal.
Career statistics
NBA
| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Washington | 13 || 10 || 30.9 || .529 || — || .636 || 10.5 || 1.8 || 1.4 || .6 || 11.8 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 13 || 10 || 30.9 || .529 || — || .636 || 10.5 || 1.8 || 1.4 || .6 || 11.8
College Season Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG 2021–22 Maryland 31 1 17.7 .456 .304 .804 4.4 .4 .4 .7 5.7 2022–23 Maryland 34 33 27.0 .632 .000 .533 7.2 1.0 .8 1.2 11.4 2023–24 Maryland 32 32 31.9 .546 .000 .568 9.5 1.3 1.0 1.9 13.7 2024–25 Maryland 36 36 28.5 .555 .000 .734 9.0 1.3 1.1 1.5 13.3 Career 134 102 26.4 .557 .292 .630 7.6 1.0 .8 1.3 11.1
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/julian-reese-1.html Retrieved April 14, 2026
References
External links Maryland Terrapins bio