Nikko Reed is a Class of 2021 WR/CB from Hayward, Calif. At 5-foot-10 and 155 pounds, his frame certainly is on the smaller side in terms of a recruit who could be destined to play college football on a big stage.
However, since early April, Reed has seen his recruitment take off significantly, culminating with receiving an offer from Colorado on the 10th, which is his first Pac-12 and Power 5 opportunity.
Other than CU, Air Force and Army have offered, as has Eastern Washington and CSU. Reed mentioned that additionally, UC Davis, Hawaii and Northern Arizona have been showing a lot of interest.
Brian Michalowski offered Reed and the latter said that when the Buffs came calling, it took him by surprise.
“It’s really funny because a while back, I used to tell all my friends that I’d never get an offer, that I wasn’t that good and this and that," he said. "I was serious about it, too. They’d tell me to just be patient, to be humble about it and that it was going to come. Sometimes I’d come to reality (and think) that I was never going to get this offer or that offer. When (Colorado offered), it was surprising. (Despite) all that stuff I used to to think about myself, I stayed patient and (offers) came.”
Recruitment for Reed has taken off in the last week and some change. Air Force was the first school to offer on April 2, and since then, his list of options has grown significantly, with CU and CSU offering the same day this past Friday.
“Just before my first offer on April 2, I’m not going to lie, the days before that offer came, I was really doubting myself," he said. "Also, with quarantine going on, I haven’t really played actual football in a while. I didn’t have much confidence in myself but after that first offer, it was enlightening and was like a sign that you can do this."
"All the stuff (I) just thought the previous days and now that I had an offer, what was I thinking? Why did I think I couldn’t get an offer?"
Join the conversation on Reed at Buff Nation, the premiere message board community serving countless Colorado fanatics.
For a long time, Reed's dimensions, being 5-foot-10 and a bit south of 160 pounds, were factors that kept his expectations of potentially playing college football on the lower side. However, in time, and as his high school career has gone on, Reed has begun to view his height and weight in a different light.
"I always doubted myself because of my size," he said. "My size by itself — I didn’t see myself playing in college against these grown men that are way bigger and stronger than me. But at the end of the day, I know what I’m capable of doing. There’s people I play against that are way bigger than me already, so it’s nothing new.”
“There’s a lot of people that are big for nothing. If they would be small, what would they be? I feel like, since my size is making me an underdog, it pushes me to be better because people don’t think I have the ability to do certain things. I want to prove them wrong...people are going to doubt me because how small I am but I just have to let my actions do more.”
Michalowski, who has also offered Reed's Moreau Catholic teammate, 2021 DE Kaleb Elarms-Orr, seemed to leave a good initial impression when the two spoke for the first time shortly after Reed's offer was issued.
“To be honest, it was our first time talking, but the type of bond we had, we were cracking jokes and stuff like that," Reed said. "It felt like we knew each other and had been talking, but it was really our first time...the previous day, we were sending one or two text messages, but (upon talking on the phone) it really seemed like he really liked me. He was talking about what my film shows...he offered me and said he sees me doing big things.”
Michalowski told Reed that his film had been sent to Darrin Chiaverini and Demetrice Martin.
As of right now, it's Reed's versatility that's been attractive to Colorado's coaches. There hasn't been specification yet as to what side of the ball Reed prospectively might play on, but judging from his film, he appears comfortable wherever he is.
