Wyoming added Floridian Tyrell Williams to their 2014 recruiting class this past Tuesday. Williams, a 6’8” 240 pound, power forward from Norland High School in Miami, Florida, is the latest recruit to be signed with the Cowboys, and the second to last scholarship available for potential players.
“We are thrilled,” said head coach Larry Shyatt in a teleconference. “He is as good a fit as we could have asked for on and off the court.”
Williams had other offers from Stephen F. Austin, Iona and Florida Atlantic, but said the coaches here were a big reason why he chose UW.
“I felt right at home,” said Williams in a teleconference. “I felt the love and appreciation that coach gives to a player.”
Williams averaged 7.2 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in his senior year in high school. He is well built coming out of high school at 240 pounds, allowing him to work on his game more so than concentrating in the weight room.
“We can immediately work on skill improvement instead of physically,” sad Shyatt. “He is well coached and has a pretty good basketball IQ coming out of high school.”
Shyatt appears to be building the team around high schoolers who fit well and can come in and develop, instead of focusing on players from junior colleges or transfers.
“We are not trying to bring in other people’s problems,” said Shyatt. “We want to try and develop guys.”
Williams is the fourth signee of the 2014 class; all have been high schoolers. Also recruited were Jeremy Lieberman, a point guard out of Calabasas, California, Diontae Jones, a small forward hailing from Las Vegas and Jonathan Barnes, a center out of Parker, Colorado.
“We have a person in each position,” said Shyatt. “That is the type of balance we are looking for.”
The Cowboys still have one open scholarship they hope to fill in the next week. Indications are it will be one of two high schoolers: Alex Aja Gorsky, a 6’5” 208 pounds, a shooting forward; or another shooting forward, Chris Shields who is 6’8” and 185 pounds.
Shyatt also provided a rehab update on senior all-league forward Larry Nance Jr.
“Larry is doing well,” said Shyatt. “He is doing rehab at least twice a day and will go home for about a month and continue rehab with the Cleveland Cavaliers.”
Many of the current basketball players will go home after finals for a month and then will return to Laramie for further conditioning.
