One of the best point guards in Arkansas basketball history is mentoring a player who could play the position for the Razorbacks in the future.
Little Rock Central sophomore Bryson Warren (6-2, 170) had a game-high 24 points to lead the Tigers over Bentonville West 68-48 on Thursday in a Class 6A state tournament quarterfinal game at Fayetteville High School.
His standout performance came in front of former All-SEC point guard Kareem Reid, who has been training and mentoring Warren since the seventh grade.
“I see greatness,” Reid said. “I’ve seen such great development from him since he was a seventh grader. I’ve been happy to be a mentor in his life, and sometimes we don’t even talk about basketball.
“He has taken off and is hopefully getting ready to lead his team to a state title.”
Warren, ranked the 32nd-best player nationally in the 2023 class by 247 Sports, averaged 27 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals per game while leading his team to its first conference title since 2008.
He did that while shooting a sizzling 56.1% from the floor and 47.7% from three-point range.
Warren needed 21 points on Thursday to top 1,000 career points after playing his freshman season at North Little Rock.
“My relationship with Kareem is great,” Warren said. “He calls me every now and then and gives me tips on how to be a better point guard. He lets me know what I can do to get better, so it’s always good to be around him.
“When he comes to my games, it’s good to listen to him because he helps me see things in a different aspect.”
Warren has offers from Arkansas, St. John’s, Auburn, Georgetown, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, TCU, Vanderbilt, Seton Hall, Oral Roberts, Alcorn State, and Tennessee State. He is receiving interest from Michigan and other programs.
The Tigers will face either Bentonville or Bryant Saturday at 1 p.m. in a semifinal matchup.
“He is a gym rat,” Reid said. “He is constantly in the gym. He has a great dad and some good people in his corner, some great basketball guys in his corner. Lots of guys don’t have that, but he is just soaking it up and gathering it up. That is what is making him special.”
Reid, born and raised in the Bronx, was a McDonald’s All-American that Razorbacks coach Nolan Richardson signed after seeing him play for St. Raymond's in the King Cotton Holiday Classic in Pine Bluff.
After having to sit out Arkansas’ 1994-95 season, Reid joined with fellow freshman guard Pat Bradley to lead the Razorbacks to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in 1996 and to the NIT Final Four in 1997.
Reid is also very pleased to see the revitalization of his former college team with coach Eric Musselman and No. 8 Arkansas (21-5) set to open SEC Tournament action on Friday.
“Coach Musselman has been great with this group,” Reid said. “You just see the development. He is holding the kids accountable, holding the kids and the coaching staff responsible. When you do that, that is what you get – great results.
“That is what Coach Richardson always did. He coached hard, but he loved even harder. That is what Coach Musselman is doing now.”
Reid knows that SEC freshman of the year Moses Moody is likely headed to the NBA after this season, but holds out hope he will be back for one more year at Arkansas.
“He is going to make a few dollars (in the NBA), but being selfish, I hope he will stick around one more year,” noted Reid, who was named to the SEC All-Freshman team in 1996 and second-team All-SEC the following season. “This team is special, but I would love to see what he and the program could do without a pandemic going on.”