Texas Tech begins 2021 class with a bang in 4-star wing Jaylon Tyson
After signing a top 10 class in 2020, Texas Tech is quickly becoming a recruiting powerhouse in the college basketball landscape. That continued in a big way when on Tuesday night John Paul II (Plano, TX) wing/guard Jaylon Tyson pledged to the Red Raiders.
Tyson has been a top target for head coach Chris Beard and assistant Ulric Maligi since picking up his offer from TTU back on December 27th, and decided he had seen enough to end his recruitment and become a Red Raider.
Tyson is a 6-foot-6 wing/guard who is still growing and can play both guard spots or on the wing. He has great guard skills, especially for his size. Tyson can put the ball on the floor, distribute to his teammates and can also create his own looks off the bounce.
RedRaiderSports.com's Ben Golan went out to watch Tyson in his team's playoff game in mid-February and he shined, scoring 31 points in the win. Tyson would then continue his onslaught throughout the postseason, leading his Cardinals to the TAPPS 2-6A state championship.
Jaylon Tyson was largely unknown in recruiting cycles before that postseason run but blew up after, going from an unranked recruit to a 4-star on the verge of the top 100 according to Rivals.com.
In the two months since winning that championship, Tyson has picked up offers from Texas A&M, Richmond, SMU, Xavier, Creighton, Houston and Tulsa. He previously held offers from TCU and Oklahoma among others.
Tyson got to watch the Red Raiders multiple times this season both in person and on TV. He made trips out to Lubbock for the Kentucky game on January 25th and the Kansas game on March 7th, which would be the final game of the year before COVID-19 ended the season.
He was also in attendance at Texas' home game vs the Red Raiders on February 8th, which Texas Tech ended up winning.
While it's hard to say how much of a factor it ended up being, it definitely didn't hurt the Red Raiders that Tyson's best friend, Jerand Bradley, is committed to Texas Tech as a wide receiver in the 2021 class. Bradley used to play basketball before giving it up this season, but the two have remained close and now they both figure to continue their academic and athletic careers in Lubbock, TX.
Tyson's commitment to Texas Tech makes him just the third member of the 2021 Rivals150 to commit to a Big 12 program, following Kansas' Zach Clemence and Oklahoma's Bijan Cortes.
Tyson now makes it three years in a row for Texas Tech with a basketball commit from DFW, following Jahmi'us Ramsey (Duncanville) and Tyreek Smith (Trinity Christian) in 2019 and Micah Peavy (Duncanville) in 2020.
Tyson was a first-team all-state forward who was named the TAPPS 2-6A MVP and averaged 23.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game as a junior.