2017 National Signing Day Profile: Tramar Reece

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

Tramar Reece, 6’3”, 210 pounds, Clearwater, FL (Clearwater High School), DE, 247Sports Composite Ranking: 3-star (81.49)

The pipeline from Florida to Bloomington has certainly remained open for the 2017 recruiting class and Tramar Reece is the latest to flock from the Sunshine State to don the Cream and Crimson. Reece is a three-star pass rusher that chose IU over Duke, Iowa State, Louisville and several others. He is 6’3” and incredibly quick for a defensive end and his production at the high school level is unquestionable. Heading into his junior year of high school, football didn’t appear to be in his future. He weighed just north of 180 pounds and desired to play division one basketball. However, on October of 2015, Reece’s life took a drastic change. His mother, by all accounts a terrific role model and parent, died of a sudden heart attack. According to Reece’s high school coach, Don Mesick, that tragedy has pushed the young defensive end to make the most of his physical gifts.

“He wasn’t the hardest worker in the weight room. His mom really wanted Tramar to go college,” Mesick told Jeremy Price of the Herald Times. “She worked hard for him to go college and wanted him to have the opportunity. I think part of the motivation was to grant her wish, and he saw that he had the opportunity to do that with football instead of basketball. So he’s able to fulfill her dream of him going to school and that plays into it, no doubt.”

The Hoosiers are planning on playing Reece as a defensive end and his broad-shouldered frame appears to have room to pack on an additional 30-35 pounds. His highlight tape shows that he has great burst and really good balance when rounding the edge against opposing tackles. He has the athleticism needed to make an impact and if he can keep working as hard as has in the past two years to get to this point, there’s no doubt he can be a starting wide end in Tom Allen’s defense. 

“Everybody likes Tramar and is rooting for him,” Mesick said. It has been a difficult and likely an incredibly painful journey but he has fulfilled the dream his mother had for him and earned himself a scholarship to attend college.