The Reeses: A Terp Family Affair

The Winter 2022 issue of ONE MARYLAND Magazine has arrived in the mailboxes of Terrapin Club members soon, but this is a sneak peak of one of its stories. 

ONE MARYLAND features stories of strength and perseverance, of determination and spirit. These stories define our athletics program, and this new magazine will allow us to share these stories with you. 

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The University of Maryland athletic department has seen notable athletic families before: Jared, Jesse and Jake Bernhardt and Wilson Phipps and his sons, Michael and Brian of the men’s lacrosse team, Brooke and Brindi Griffin of the women’s lacrosse team, Marty and Maxwell Costes of the baseball team, and Stephanie and Brionna Jones of the women’s basketball team. 

Now, a new duo has taken residence in College Park in the form of Maryland basketball stars Angel and Julian Reese. 

Growing up, the two of them were incredibly close, so much so that their unbreakable bond has brought them to Maryland to continue their journey’s the only way they know how: Together.

“I’m very proud,” their mother, also named Angel, said. “I’ve gotten to meet so many Maryland supporters and staff. I admit that I am exhausted, though! We live about a 50-55 minute drive from our house to College Park, and that’s with no traffic. I've been down College Park [so much the last few months]. It's very tiring, but I enjoy it!”

The Reese matriarch, who goes by ‘Big Angel,’ was a hoops star at University of Maryland Baltimore County and has since been inducted into the UMBC Athletics Hall of Fame. She was instrumental in her children’s lives, as she was not only their mother but the person who put a basketball in their hands at a young age. 

Both Angel and Julian, who those close to him call JuJu, showed immense promise at a young age, with their driveway becoming their first homecourt. Hard-fought one-on-one games were played, and it got to a point where Big Angel had to remove the basket from their home because of the fights it would cause. 

Sports are big in the Reese household and even their extended family, but basketball was clearly the go-to game.

“She taught me how to play,” Angel said of her mother. “Most of my family plays basketball, so I kind of had to play. I tried ballet, gymnastics, and things like that, but nothing worked except for basketball.”

The younger Angel was a basketball prodigy, immediately cementing herself as one of the best players in her age group and one of the best players in her city. Angel played years above her age bracket, played on boys teams, and saw success regardless of where she played.

Her dominant showings and her nurturing community of her mother and brother allowed Angel to chase her dreams of high-level basketball.

“I was in third grade playing two years up, and I was doing really well. That’s when I knew I was good,” Angel said. “I was a point guard when I was younger, so I was so small, and then I got my growth spurt, and so I had guard skills at six foot three.” 

One of Angel’s teams was that of her brother’s team with all of his friends. In their childhoods, Angel was bigger than Julian and was always afraid of overshadowing and embarrassing her brother. 

The hardwood wasn’t always Julian’s destiny, as he played multiple sports growing up. For as frustrated as Julian may have been at times, he still felt the love from his sister. As Angel says, she is his number one fan in everything he does, even if it wasn’t basketball.

Much like his sister, it was Big Angel’s influence and love of the game that filtered down to her son. 

“At first, I really wanted to play anything,” Julian said. “I played football a little bit, but my mom is the one that introduced me to basketball. She played in high school and college and was really good. She passed that down to us.” 

Angel was bigger than Julian as they grew up, and Angel remembers a time where she could physically dominate him on the court, but that all changed once Julian got to high school.

Julian ballooned up to 6-foot-9 during his high school years and transferred from New Town High School to St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, the same school his sister starred for a few years prior. Unlike Angel, though, Julian wasn’t as highly sought after for collegiate programs. 

When women’s head coach Brenda Frese secured the commitment of Angel in Nov. 2019, speculation began about whether her brother would follow suit. The men’s staff was in on Julian very early, and it was those connections that sold Julian on joining his sister in College Park.

“Julian was a late bloomer, and his star is just starting to shine more often,” Big Angel said. “I think it's great, and Angel embraces it, and I think she loves that. There's no jealousy at all on either end. And I think that Julian just waited his turn, and he's not one to be into all of the limelight. I think he just does what he needs to do, and that’s to be successful and keep it moving.”

With his commitment behind him, Julian could play his senior year with a clear mind, and it allowed him to become one of the most notorious high school players in the area. As a center, Julian put up numerous gaudy stat lines and double-doubles, even going viral on social media with some of the dunks and blocks that he would get. 

Julian became the player that his family always knew he could be, and it’s because of the chip on his shoulder that he developed.

“It was tough for Julian because he wasn't a highly recruited player,” Angel said. “Freshman and sophomore year, I know he played JV and that it was tough for him seeing his sister playing a national schedule. Then he came to St Frances, and he just started blowing up, and that was also tough for him because everybody knew me. They would say things like ‘Your sister's better than the guys,’ but he will always prove them wrong.

Angel always implored her younger brother that he just needed to stay patient and that a program would reward him. Despite blossoming into a top-100 recruit, Julian never considered re-opening his commitment. Maryland was where he wanted to be because they had the foresight on what he could be. 

His sister playing at the same school is a bonus, and it’s making his college experience that much more special.

“I always looked forward to [watching Angel play] once I committed,” Julian said. “That's just a great feeling. I come in and watch her play one night, and she comes and watches me the next night.” 

Julian’s commitment came just months after his sister’s and did it on a special day: Mother’s Day. 

Julian called his mother downstairs and presented her with a sweatshirt that had a photo of him and Angel, and on the back read a simple yet powerful message: Committed. It was the best gift Big Angel could’ve gotten, as the two people she loved the most would play at the state’s flagship school.

If you’ve met the Reese’s, one thing that immediately sticks out is the difference in personalities. Angel is outgoing, constantly smiling, and seemingly ready to break out in dance at a moment’s notice. On the other hand, Julian is much more reserved and carries himself with a quiet demeanor. 

The personality difference makes the pair fit perfectly together, with Angel able to bring more joy out of Julian and Julian able to bring more balance and stability to Angel. Maryland fans have quickly gravitated towards the two, with the students treating them as basketball royalty. 

Throughout high school, peers and teachers knew Julian as “Angel’s brother”, a moniker that never bothered him because he loves his sister and is proud to be associated with her. Now that they’re both at Maryland and are two of the biggest names in the athletic department, Angel has to adjust to being recognized for something other than herself. 

“This is the first time people are saying things like “Hey, you’re JuJu’s sister!’,” Angel said. “I have to laugh and say ‘No, that's my little brother.’ He is Angel’s brother.”

Even if you associate one of them as just being the sibling to the other, they wear that distinction as a badge of honor. Julian is proud to be Angel’s brother, as well as she is proud to be his sister. There is no jealousy, only love. 

The relationship that Angel and Julian have has been nurtured by their mother and forged through respect, competition, and the shared love of basketball. Together, they’re ready to show Maryland fans and the country that the Reese show is only getting started.