Whats your budget? As far as reels go, the good news is that with modern engineering and manufacturing, entry level centerpins are actually pretty decent nowadays. There's only one CP reel I know of under $200 which happens to be on sale right now at Army & Navy for only $110 (Amundson, a local company). I've casted one before and it was surprisingly good for the price.
If you can scrape up ~$250 for the reel then there are many models to pick from. Rapala, Raven, Okuma, etc all have decent reels around that price. Keep an eye on the used market, they dont show up that often, but when they do you can expect a nice discount compared to new.
Another option would be a used older/vintage reel like the Grice & Young Avon or JWYoung Trudex or Rapidex for $100-$150. Old school cool, if you're into that sort of thing. If you're patient they sometime show up in the used market at quite the bargain, though I personally would save up until I could afford a modern reel.