LJWorld.com

Tyrel Reed, who started twice and came off the bench 33 times last season, opened Tuesday’s exhibition contest against Fort Hays State.

The steady 6-foot-3 junior from Burlington has no idea if answering the bell was a one-time occurrence or sign of things to come in 2009-10.

“I don’t know. It just depends on what coach sees,” Reed said.

He scored seven points off 3-of-5 shooting with two assists and two turnovers in 24 minutes in the Jayhawks’ 107-68 rout of the Tigers.

“I am not worried about starting or coming off the bench. I just want to give the guys energy. Whatever happens doesn’t matter to me.”

One thing appears certain: Reed figures to play meaningful minutes on this deep Jayhawk team.

“Whether he starts or not, I don’t know,” KU coach Bill Self said of Reed, who averaged 6.5 points, 1.6 assists and 20.6 minutes per game last season. “I see his role being one he can make shots. He can make big shots. He wants to shoot the ball, tries so hard and cares so much.”

Reed hit 49 of 126 threes (38.9 percent), including 21 of 48 (43.8 percent) in Big 12 Conference play.

“He is an unbelievable leader for our guys,” Self said. “Everybody respects Tyrel. There’s no way you could play here and not respect his effort, and as a fan you should totally respect everything he does. He tries so hard and cares so much.

“I think his role will be comparable to last year, maybe a little more advanced as far as minutes especially early in the season. I really don’t know. I don’t have a crystal ball to tell you exactly what guys’ roles will be in certain situations because I don’t know how these young kids are going to react yet,” Self added.

Reed said he has tried to step up and be more of a vocal leader this preseason in an attempt to provide a strong example for freshmen Elijah Johnson, Thomas Robinson and Xavier Henry, who combined for 29 points, 10 rebounds and five assists against Hays.

“I try to come to practice every day with a good attitude, always talking and trying to get the guys ready to go,” Reed said. “It’s important to bring energy to practice. When we don’t have energy, we have a bad practice. When we have energy, good things can happen.”

He sees room for improvement heading into Tuesday’s 7 p.m. exhibition against Pittsburg State.

“We kind of settle. We think we can get a shot any time we want,” Reed said. “We take shots that are ill-advised. When we get it to Cole (Aldrich, junior center), good things happen. Every time Cole touches it, he does something good. He scores or gets fouled. We’ve got to get him the ball as much as possible and get it to him earlier (in game).”

Aldrich scored 13 points off 4-of-7 shooting and 5-of-6 free throwing in the opener.

“I think the guys have a real good attitude and put team first,” Reed said. “I try to stress that. The pie is big enough for everyone. We don’t have to worry about individual achievements on this team.”