Tyler's high school team, Arsenal Tech (Indianapolis), finished the 2013 season 27-2. The Titans went on a 10-game winning streak en route to the Indiana Class 4A State Championship.
The 6-foot-2 guard averaged 16.9 points per game, four steals per game and two blocks per game in his final season as a Titan. Tyler explained that practices were so intense, some of them led to scuffles.
“We used to go at each other,” Tyler said. “There would be fights in practice because we were going so hard, but at the end of the day we were still like brothers.”
At Arsenal Tech, Tyler played with current NBA Utah Jazz rookie Trey Lyles and Florida State recruit and Tech senior C.J. Walker. Although the three play at different levels of the game, Tyler said they hardly talk about hoops when they get to converse.
“We check on each other to make sure we’re all good,” Tyler said. “[Lyles] is actually inviting me to Summer League this summer in Las Vegas, so I’ll have a chance to catch up with him. I talked to [Walker] a couple days ago before his game against Pike High School when he had 53 points. We started talking about college — not even the basketball aspect, just the transition from high school.”
Tyler said his Titans team had one sentiment before its championship run began.
“We knew what type of team we had [in 2013], and we looked at the other teams in the state and we knew we had a chance," he said.
Fast forward three years and Tyler's new team is again on top of the standings. He said the Cardinals have "improved a lot over the past two years."
“We’ve finally built a foundation for the next coming years — we actually have a legit chance to make a run in the conference tournament,” he said.
Tyler said he and his teammates need to be more aggressive if they want to make that potential tournament run.
“We have to learn how to win,” Tyler said. “We’ve been playing not to lose games recently, and I think that’s been hurting us.”
Ball State will take on Central Michigan on the road at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 13.
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