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PLAYERS
Position: C
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HT: 6'11"
WT: 262
Biography: Tyler made numerous headlines for leaving high school after his junior season in 2009 to play professionally overseas. Looking
back, that decision was likely not the best one for the power forward, but he could end up getting taken in this year's draft.
Tyler had committed to Louisville after starring at San Diego High School and seemed primed to become a top-five pick. However,
he then left California to sign a contract with Maccabi Haifa in Israel. The Milwaukee Bucks' Brandon Jennings parlayed his
one season in Italy after high school into the No. 10 selection in the 2009 draft, but things are unlikely to work out the
same way for Tyler. He averaged 2.1 points and 1.9 rebounds over 7.6 minutes per game, and experienced a multitude of problems
during his first year as a pro. Tyler was ejected from one game for head-butting an opposing player. He walked out on his
team during halftime of another contest to protest his lack of playing time and was out of uniform for three others. That
eventually led to him leaving with five weeks left in the season. Tyler had more success this past season in Japan, averaging
9.9 points and 6.4 rebounds in a little more than 15 minutes per game for the Tokyo Apache. That improvement will likely help
his draft stock and could be just enough to show teams that he's gotten past his earlier struggles.
![]() Al Tielemans
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