Even with an endless transfer portal, there are still dozens — if not hundreds — of players participating in the NCAA Tournament for at least the second time this month.
But Joshua Aaron Reaves’ return to the NCAA Tournament puts him in a group all his own.
Reaves, a backup guard and 3-point specialist for the Flying Dutchmen, is the only player in the 2026 NCAA Tournament who also played for a mid-major in the bubble 2021 NCAA Tournament. As a true freshman, Reaves scored six points in 28 minutes for Mount St. Mary’s on Mar. 18, 2021, when the Mountaineers fell to Texas Southern, 60-52, in a first four game.
Reaves is one of 10 players in this year’s tournament who went dancing during a sixth year of eligibility. In Reaves’ case, he received the extra year granted to everyone who played during the pandemic 2020-21 season as well a redshirt year after he suffered a broken leg four games into the 2022-23 campaign.
The other nine players to participate in the 2021 and 2026 tournaments all suited up for at least one power conference team.
“So surreal, so surreal,” Reaves said during the Selection Sunday party. “Not a lot of people get to go once to March Madness.”
The second trip to the NCAA Tournament is like a second lottery win for Reaves — and his first chance to really experience the good fortune, since pandemic restrictions were in place in March 2021.
Following a regular season that included, as Reaves recalled, “…playing games with a mask, wearing a mask on the bench — quarantined, six feet apart (and) different games that were canceled,” Mount St. Mary’s won the Northeast Conference tournament by beating Bryant, 73-68, in the title game on Mar. 9, 2021.
Though there were nine days until the start of the NCAA Tournament, the Mountaineers immediately traveled to Indianapolis, where the tournament was held at a handful of sites around the city.
“Selection Sunday actually (happened) in the bubble,” Reaves said. “Everybody was quarantined. Really couldn’t be around your teammates until it was (game time). It was an interesting time out there, for sure.”
The pandemic finally eased, but the interesting times continued for college basketball players. NIL was officially implemented on July 1, 2021, followed one year later by the rule allowing players to transfer without sitting a year.
“People that played before my time, they didn’t have to experience COVID or the pandemic, they didn’t have to experience NIL and all those things that I had to adjust to,” Reaves said. “Today is a completely different dynamic.”
After four seasons at Mount St. Mary’s, Reaves transferred to Illinois-Chicago, where he played in 16 games last season. Reaves, who is friends with fellow Connecticut native and former Dutchmen star Tyler Thomas, then arrived at Hofstra, where he is getting a graduate degree in sustainability.
Reaves played just 27 minutes over a 15-game span from Nov. 27 through Jan. 22 before seeing consistent action down the stretch. He scored a season-high 17 points and earned KenPom.com MVP honors Jan. 31, when the Dutchmen beat Monmouth 73-57 to snap a five-game losing streak and spark the current 11-1 run.
Reaves gave the Dutchmen their first lead of the CAA title game rematch against Monmouth with a first-half 3-pointer. About 90 minutes later, Reaves said he tried to take in the reactions of his coaches, teammates and fans as he celebrated a unique second trip to the NCAA Tournament.
“Just being under Speedy Claxton and the coaching staff and the guys as player s— they got better, I got better, coaches got better every single day,” Reaves said. “And I’m excited to really experience March Madness.”
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