Come crunch time, ball is in Tyler’s hands
By Sean Turner
Lacey Tyler, a 6’ sophomore guard from Streator High School, has been the Apaches go-to guy this season.
"When we need points, we try to put the ball in Lacey’s hands," said head coach Mike Riley.
Tyler is leading the team in 2-point goal percentage with 62.4 percent and in rebounding with a 5.1 average per game.
"He is certainly the leader of this team," Riley said. "I just wish we had more wins for him at this point."
Comparing this season to his last, Tyler said, "I am a bigger threat now, not just a shooting threat from last year. I didn’t feel like I had to be so much of a leader last year than this year either."
Teammate Craig Olson, a 5’11" guard, agreed.
"Lacey is a very quick slasher on the court, but he is a leader on and off of the court," Olson said.
Tyler, 19, who came from a family of three brothers and one sister who are competed in athletics, didn’t start focusing on his skills until his sophomore year at Streator.
"I started to like the game around 14 or 15 years old, just shooting around with my brothers and my uncle," he said.
Why did he want to play for IVCC?
"Good question," Tyler said. "I think I really wanted to see if I had it in myself to play college level basketball, and since IVCC was so close to my home, I gave it a shot."
Tyler is headed to the University of St. Francis after IVCC, and he intends to play basketball there.
"I know the coach there," Tyler said, explaining that he worked with the St. Francis coach at a YMCA summer camp.
Riley thinks Tyler will do well at a Division II school.
"He (Tyler) is the person you would want on your team," Riley said. "He is hard working and has a good attitude."
Tyler is currently studying business administration and wants to own his own business.
"Basketball is number one to me, but I don’t look at it as a career," he said. Last semester Tyler made the honors list with a 3.0 gpa.
What does he do when he is not playing for the Apaches?
"I like to practice on my keyboard I got for Christmas, and I also like to sing a lot."
His goals for the rest of the season?
"My goal is to come out of this shooting slump I have been in," he said. "The goals I have for the team is to go to New York after winning our regional. I want to leave IVCC knowing I reached that goal."
2/18/99 the Apache