College Commitment: Dakota Reber (2020 Wilsonville HS)

Dakota Reber Dakota Reber 6'6" | SF Wilsonville | 2020 State OR certainly had plenty of opportunities when it came to college basketball. The athletic 6-foot-6, 185-pound forward picked up numerous offers from Division I and II schools through his senior year at Wilsonville and at season’s end he had some interesting decisions to make. After looking over all his options and considering his major factors, Reber decided to follow his dreams and made the commitment to attend school and play D-I basketball at Incarnate Word.

"They showed me love and they gave me the opportunity to prove myself at the D-I level," Reber said. "I’ve always wanted to play at that level and I’ve worked my whole life to get there and the opportunity came so I went with them."

Incarnate Word is located in San Antonio, Texas and competes in the Southland Conference. Reber had a slew of Division II offers and also had a Division I offer from Southern Utah but felt that UIW made him the best pitch. "They were there and were the first ones to be on me and the first ones to offer," Reber said. "I just felt like they wanted me and I wanted to go where I was wanted."

Because of the current shutdown of official visits, Reber was unable to make a trip down to Incarnate Word to get a look at the campus in order to make a decision. But thanks to modern technology, he was able to virtually visit and had plenty of talks with head coach Carson Cunningham and the coaching staff to get enough of a feel to comfortably make a commitment.

"It’s tough since we can’t go anywhere so it was definitely a hard decision," Reber said. "But I feel that it will be a good fit. They have a very young team - they were like the youngest team in the country last year. So I think I have a chance to go in and earn some playing time."

As a senior, Reber averaged 18.1 points and 6.2 rebounds, shooting a robust 56.6 percent from the field and 45.9 percent from beyond the three-point arc. A two-time First Team 5A All-State selection his junior and senior seasons, Reber is an electric finisher at the rim, and his development of his perimeter shooting was one of the things that attracted the recruiting interest that he received. He’s hoping to expand more on his game to get ready for the college level.

"I would say I’ll be working on becoming more of a guard," Reber said. "All my guard skills, I want to continue improving on those."

His coach at Wilsonville, Chris Roche, has no doubt Reber will be successful at Incarnate Word. "Dakota is one of the most talented and accomplished players in Wilsonville High School history," Roche said. "He led our team to multiple state championships, and we never lost a conference game during his four years at WHS. Dakota is a guy who works very hard at his game, and his career has been marked by tremendous improvement."

"But what makes Dakota special is the fact that his primary focus is on winning, and while motivated and ambitious, he always keeps winning and team success as his top priority," Roche continued. "He’s a growing leader, and at the same time a really nice, kind-hearted person. We know Incarnate Word is on the rise under the direction of Coach Cunningham, and I think Dakota Reber Dakota Reber 6'6" | SF Wilsonville | 2020 State OR will make a big impact in San Antonio before all is said and done. He’s a special kid, and a really terrific player."

Reber is the third member of the Class of 2020 to sign a Division I letter-of-intent. He currently ranks as the #4 player in the PrepHoops Oregon Class of 2020 rankings.