Recruiting Report: Brian Read (2017)

It can often be a conundrum for young, quickly growing basketball players. Being the tallest player on your team beginning in the youth ranks makes it easy to assume the role of a four or five on the court.

Yet, only the truly big players – the one-percenters who rise to 6-foot-8 and above – are going to stay true big man. That leaves the other “tall” kids needing to prepare themselves for the game at a different position than the one they are playing now.

Brian Read, a 6-foot-6 Fort Collins junior forward, seems to understand this. So it wasn’t surprising to see him at Lincoln High on Saturday, bringing the ball up the court, driving to the basket and pulling up from mid-range. Read knows he has to strengthen those skills in order to slide into a three-role in college.

“At the beginning, I was always a post player,” Read said. “Then all my coaches told me I had to work on my ball-handling for the next level. So I’ve really worked on that.”

After playing a tough national schedule this summer with the uber-talented Billups 16U squad, Read said his eyes were open to what it will take for him to become competitive at the next level.

“I probably have to be stronger,” he said. “I have to get more into the weights. Everybody out there was really strong, no matter the position – from point guard to center. … It was great playing up against the next level of competition. A lot of those kids are going D-I. It’s just really good competition. Guys we played were really big. It’s different than in Colorado, where there aren’t a lot of 6-foot-10, 7-foot guys.”

It is easy to see the edge Read plays with when he is on the court, so being outsized on the circuit at his position didn’t keep him from competing.

“He plays a lot bigger than what it is,” Billups 16U Elite coach Quincy Sanders told Prep Hoops Colorado after the summer circuit ended. “We asked him to play some fours and fives during the summer and he did a great job of it. Brian shoots the ball pretty decent. He does a lot of dirty work. He’s a big, strong, physical kid who doesn’t mind banging.”

The potential is easy to see in Read. His tough, physical nature will become even more valuable as he continues to hone his offensive skill set.  

Read said he recently received some interest from Western State, and he may visit the school in the spring. For now, he is focused on helping a Fort Collins team that was upset in the second round of the Class 5A playoffs last season make a deeper run.

“We’ve got a lot coming back,” Read said. “I think we will be strong.”