Readying for Yale's first NCAA Tournament appearance in 54 years, former Jackson star Reynolds reflects on freshman season

Approximately 1,100 miles and a year removed from his alma mater, 6-foot-7 Blake Reynolds followed as the Jackson Indians squared off a week ago against the same Saint Louis University team that ended his all-state high school basketball career.

Now a freshman at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, he could only watch his former team by the glow of a computer monitor.

"I was able to see them play in the sectional game online," Reynolds said in a phone interview. "I was up here in my dorm room with my computer pulled up and the game pulled up from there. I was sitting there rooting for them."

A year after Reynolds scored 19 points and pulled down 14 boards against SLUH in the state quarterfinals, he watched the Junior Billikens again end the Indians' season. When told that Jackson coach Darrin Scott -- who lost the 6-foot-7 standout and three other seniors to graduation -- could have used him, the 2015 Southeast Missourian Player of the Year chuckled.

"It would have been good to be out there, too," Reynolds said.

Not that Reynolds' playing days are over. Far from it.

Basketball fans in Southeast Missouri -- and the rest of the country, for that matter -- will be able to watch Reynolds' freshman season of college basketball play out when Yale makes its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 54 years today. The Ivy League champions take on Baylor of the Big 12 in a West Region first-round game at 1:45 p.m.

"Playing for Jackson, playing high school games, and playing in the playoffs a year ago, and now getting a chance to play in the bigger playoffs is really crazy," Reynolds said. "Last year at this time, I remember trying to watch the [NCAA Tournament] games any time I could at Jackson High School, and now we're going to be watching the games in person and playing in them. It's just been a real great experience so far."

Twelfth-seeded Yale (22-6) and No. 5 Baylor (22-11) will meet in Providence, Rhode Island, which is only about 90 minutes from New Haven.

"We were really excited about it," Reynolds said. "We didn't know quite what our seed would be. We figured we were going to be a 13, and when we came out as a 12 and got to play a five seed. That's really big for us to be a 12 seed, because you see a lot of 5-12 upset games in the tournament. We figured that's a game we have a really good shot at playing well, and even winning if we execute. We're really excited about it, and we get to be close to campus."

Former Jackson star and current Yale freshman Blake Reynolds puts up a shot against Daniel Webster earlier this season in New Haven, Connecticut.Steve Musco ~ Yale University Athletics

Reynolds even got a look at the tournament committee's war rooms in New York on Saturday, just a day before the selections were made.

One room was full of TV screens and couches, where games from all over the country could be absorbed in volume.

"There was a separate room where they have all the team's spread sheets and all their games from the year, and what each win and what each loss means," Reynolds said. "So it was really interesting to see how the process works, because I know most people, myself included, are usually upset with how it comes out, so they gave me a lot of respect for that committee and how hard their job actually is to pick those teams."

Live action at the Big East final at Madison Square Gardens also was part of the day, providing further evidence of the speed-of-light year that has besieged the Southeast Missouri native, who's played a supporting role for the Bulldogs, averaging 7.8 minutes a game -- tops among six freshmen on the roster.

His 2.4 points per game and 1.8 rebounds per game also lead the freshmen group. He scored a season-high 11 points in a 94-53 win versus Daniel Webster College, and pulled down eight rebounds in a season-high 25 minutes in an 88-54 loss to Albany.

"It's been a lot of fun, and the tournament is only adding to it," Reynolds said.

The year has been interesting. It includes trudging to classes after a 2-foot snowfall, a three-day trip to Los Angeles in December to play Southern California, a game at SMU, another at Illinois and visits to all the Ivy League schools, which include the likes of Harvard.

"It's been awesome," Reynolds said. "It's been a crazy freshman year, that's for sure."

The all-inclusive trip to Los Angeles included a 68-56 loss to the Trojans, but there were perks beyond a 70-degree reprieve from zero temperatures -- weather Reynolds said he's not a big fan of.

"We got to go to dinner in Hollywood, which was unbelievable," he said. "They'd take us out and just feed us these great meals. That was one of my favorite memories out there. I think it was some five-star restaurant. It was amazing and a great experience."

A two-point loss at SMU, a contest which Yale led by eight points at halftime and for 26 minutes in the game, was the Bulldogs' first loss and stood out to Reynolds for proving the team's potential just four games into the season. He said it was a game the team believed it should have won.

"It was an early game in the season, and it really kind of showed us where we were in the grand scheme of college basketball," Reynolds said.

But topping his personal list of favorites was a game played three days later on Nov. 25.

For those not fortunate to live out a dream of playing for Duke, playing the Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Arena is not a bad consolation prize.

A visit to the storied arena at the epicenter of college basketball in North Carolina was part of the recruiting pitch when Yale came calling before Reynolds' senior season at Jackson, and it didn't disappoint.

"It was awesome," Reynolds said. "It was what I was dreaming about in high school, getting to go and play there. I saw they were on the schedule when I came, and I was just real excited the whole time and was able to get in to play."

Coach Mike Krzyzewski has won five national championships with Duke, which has appeared in 16 NCAA Tournament final fours and 11 NCAA championship games.

"You can't really beat the history," Reynolds said, "and looking across the sideline and seeing Coach K, and going to check in at the scorer's table and have him being right there. ... It was pretty cool."

At that point, Reynolds had just two points on the season -- his lone basket came in a win at home against Sacred Heart -- and he had been used sparingly in a backup role to a couple of talented senior forwards, 6-8 Justin Sears and 6-6 Brandon Sherrod.

Early foul problems and a Duke zone defense brought 15 minutes of playing time for Reynolds, who scored four points and grabbed four rebounds in the 80-61 loss.

"I hadn't been playing much up until that point, really, and just had been waiting for my number to be called. And coach called it that game," Reynolds said. "It was just so fun. I can't really put it into words. ... The fans were just absolutely crazy there and the atmosphere, and all those Duke guys are so big and strong, too."

Reynolds scored on his first shot, when he drove the baseline and scored on a reverse lay-in behind the zone defense.

"A lot of times when I'm in those big games, I don't really remember baskets, but that one," Reynolds said. "They're just really ingrained in my head, especially the first one I scored -- [it] was really unbelievable and seeing the bench react and everyone so excited."

He later scored on a 15-foot baseline shot.

"I remember that one pretty well, too, because [Duke's] Grayson Allen was coming out at me and I got to shoot over him," Reynolds said. "That was a pretty cool moment, too."

When asked about the top players from other teams he's seen in person, Reynolds laughed.

"The entire Duke team, to be honest," Reynolds said. "You hear about them all the time. It was fun getting to go up against them and seeing how they play in person. Mainly Grayson Allen, and just those really good guards that you see on ESPN all the time."

It's possible Yale could have another encounter with Duke (23-10), which is seeded No. 4 in the West Regional. The Blue Devils play No. 13 UNC Wilmington (25-7) in the game before the Yale-Baylor matchup, and the winners will meet in the second round.

Reynolds said he hasn't been surprised by the success this season at Yale, which won 22 games a year ago and was Ivy League co-champion, but lost to Harvard in a playoff game for the conference's bid to the NCAA Tournament.

"When I was getting recruited, the team was kind of on the up and up, and that was something that was really exciting for me coming here," Reynolds said. "I knew they shared the Ivy last year and I knew they had a lot coming back, and I knew we'd have a really good chance to win this year, and individually, I would have a chance to grow behind some of the best in the league. That's been a big thing for me, too. Getting all this experience and getting to watch some of the best that have come to Yale, with Justin Sears and those guys. They've been really great for me, helping me out. "

Yale enters Thursday's game on a five-winning streak and has won 17 of its last 18 despite the recent loss of senior co-captain Jack Montague, who reportedly was expelled from school over a sexual assault allegation. The story has garnered national attention as the Bulldogs prepare to make their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1962.

"We haven't let it distract us too much," Reynolds said. "We've just been focusing on basketball and what we need to do in order to keep advancing. It was like that in Ivy League play whenever we were coming down to the end and trying to earn that first spot so we could go, and it's like that now. We're just focusing on Baylor and just trying to go as far as we can and make a run."

It's been an eventful first year, for sure, and Reynolds has high anticipation for the next three.

"Hopefully I'll be able to be a big contributor in the program here and help us get back to here, to the tournament, in the next couple of years."