Virginia Peninsula names Jakobe Reed athlete of the year after title run

Virginia Peninsula Community College closed a championship season by naming Jakobe Reed its Athlete of the Year at the Peninsula Sports Club’s Headliner's Night on June 29, a fitting finish for a guard whose impact stretched far beyond the box score. Reed, a two-year starter for the men’s basketball team, anchored the Gators with the kind of steadiness that turned close games into wins and a strong year into one of the program’s best since joining the NJCAA.

Reed led Region 10 in steals at 2.0 per game, assists at 5.2 per game and assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.5, numbers that placed him fifth nationally in assists and fifth nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio. Head coach Chris Moore pointed to Reed’s leadership, court vision and defensive presence as defining traits, and those traits showed up every night in a season where ball security and decision-making helped separate VPCC from the rest of the region. Reed also earned first-team All-Region 10 honors, putting him among the conference’s top guards.

The award also reflected the kind of season Reed played inside a team that kept climbing. VPCC reached the Region 10 championship game last year, then returned in 2026 to win both the regular-season title and the conference tournament. The Gators finished the year ranked No. 11 nationally in the final regular-season poll, and their 21-6 record in the Feb. 17 NJCAA Division III poll underscored how consistent they were before the postseason run. On March 11, the program’s postseason honors brought even more recognition, with Moore named Region 10 coach of the year, Jordan Watlington selected as the region’s player of the year, Reed on the first team, Jayden Sepulveda and Chris Cyrus on the second team and Ky’Saan Bevier on the all-freshmen team.

Reed’s value to VPCC extended into the classroom and the campus office. He graduated with honors with an associate degree in information technology, carried a 3.6 GPA, earned Region 10 All-Academic honors four times and worked in the school’s IT department. The 5-foot-10, 190-pound guard from Hampton and Woodside High School is expected to continue his academic and athletic career at Greensboro College in Greensboro, North Carolina, in August.

For a program that joined the NJCAA in 2023-24, has won 13 VCCS titles and captured the New South Athletic Conference postseason tournament in 2022, Reed’s recognition carried extra weight. It marked a player who helped define VPCC’s NJCAA-era identity while giving the Gators a title run and a national profile to match.