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  • December 3, 2008 8:55 am  |  14 Comments

    Beyond His Years

    Jeremy Tyler is following the right path.

    Words by Justin Walsh

    Jeremy Tyler didn’t get the chance to vote in this years historic election because he’s only 16 years old. A few other things he can’t do yet? Here’s 100, just for starters.

    What can Jeremy Tyler do? He can dunk, he can shoot, he can rebound, he can block…and apparently, Jeremy Tyler can have a film crew follow him around. In January, filmmakers Andrew Gallery and David Bolno decided it was the west coast’s turn to shine. East Coast had ‘Bassy, West Coast response? Jeremy Tyler. Kobe Bryant only has three-minute YouTube clips chronicling his high school basketball career. Sure, Dwight Howard had a few games featured on ESPN, but I don’t see the man beast lighting up the silver screen. That’s putting a lot of pressure on a 16-year-old. Most cats his age would foul up, fold under pressure, get star struck, but not J.T. When Jeremy sees an NBA star he figures, “They’re way better basketball players than I am right now, but they’re also just regular people.”

    More than a few people say that off the court, Jeremy is mild mannered, humble and polite (he goes by Jeremy). Off the court, the hardwood becomes his potion (cue up the horror music); you will call him J.T.—a regular basketball Jekyll and Hyde. Once his size 18 kicks grace the hardwood, he will not be polite to your body. Instead he will pivot (using your weight against you), pull a quick drop step, and beat the goal like it stole somethin’.

    They say art imitates life, and life imitates art. In 1994, a film crew followed two east coast guards, Arthur Agee and William Gates. People thought they were the next best thing at a young age as well. Things didn’t go so hot—neither of them got to the League. In William’s case, his knee kept his career grounded. In Arthur’s case, his father buying drugs on camera, his family struggling to stay under a roof, and the troubles of going to a rough school stunted his basketball progression. Why is this relevant? In a recent ESPN interview, Jeremy Tyler had this to say:

    “You can watch that movie and learn from their actions and learn from their mistakes,” Tyler said. “What we’re doing with this [documentary] is basically the same thing. If I make it, people can learn from it, like, ‘this is what you need to do.’ If I don’t make it, they can learn from the things I did along the way.”

    The maturity in that statement speaks volumes. Greg Oden looks old beyond his years; Jeremy Tyler just speaks beyond them. He’s got a game against Renardo Sidney and Fairfax HS (scheduled Jan. 23 on ESPN), a movie being filmed about him, boxes upon boxes of full offers, yet he still manages to keep grounded. Adopting a phrase from Hoop Dreams, “People are always telling me not to forget about them when I make it. And I always tell them not to forget about me if I don’t.”

    Hate to break it to you Jeremy, but with your play on the court, basketball won’t forget you. This writer has a suspicion that the show has just begun. With the movie still in production, his ESPN premier a few months off and the season just beginning, this is a preview of the new Dr. Jekyll: Jeremy Tyler.

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    • eastcoastbiaslenstyle Posted: Dec.3 at 9:33 am
      Basket ball Dr. Jekyll, eh? Interesting. I like the beat in the video.

    • LexaB Posted: Dec.3 at 10:00 am
      His game looks pretty dope, great moves for a big guy, and the maturity of his comments is just incredible, hope this young fella can make it to the L!!!

    • LexaB Posted: Dec.3 at 10:00 am
      Oh and just because I never did it… FIRST !!!!!!!!!!

    • Justin Walsh Posted: Dec.3 at 10:03 am
      First: the staple of Slam magazine. LexaB: Totally agree on his comments. I don’t know that many kids that can peel away the first layer of what’s going on in his life to find parallels like that.

    • LexaB Posted: Dec.3 at 10:17 am
      Oh and Justin, thanks for all the posts and videos about those young guns, keep up the good work, you make my day everytime :)

    • Justin Walsh Posted: Dec.3 at 10:19 am
      Anytime, gotta give credit to these young cats making the highlights happen. Ridiculous like the back uh yo head. MadTV style.

    • Diesel Posted: Dec.3 at 10:48 am
      he actually looks like he has his footwork down and he’s comfortable in his body. very rare for a big man, let alone at such a young age. usually there’s a few years until your game catches up with your growth.

    • Justin Walsh Posted: Dec.3 at 10:57 am
      Diesel, welcome to the life of 99 percent of teens who become tall. Jeremy Tyler, however, has evaded that awkward uncoordinated phase in life. ITS UNFAIR *shirley temple pout*

    • Arek Posted: Dec.3 at 12:06 pm
      This guy became my favorite high school player ever since I saw him live for the first time at the pangos all american camp this past summer.. It’s weird that I’ve never seen it get mentioned but this kid is the most competetive I’ve seen, and he just LOVES playing basketball.. at the pangos all american camp when his official team wasn’t playing Jeremy would go around to the games being played and beg the coaches of the losing teams to let him get in the game for them, and some of them did and Jeremy would put them on a run…

    • Cheryl Posted: Dec.3 at 2:08 pm
      I like this kid. I’ll look out for him.

    • HoopDreamz Posted: Dec.3 at 4:38 pm
      I like the Hoop Dreams references… Agee was my dog, but Gates had those deep one-liners. Best. Movie. Ever.

    • Idrian Evans Posted: Dec.11 at 3:45 pm
      Jermy Tyler is a freakin, unstopable beast.

    • SLAM ONLINE | » Breakout talent Posted: Dec.22 at 2:46 pm
      [...] as are a few other Pac-10 schools. He’s joined a loaded roster that includes Top 10 ranked Jeremy Tyler for the class of 2010, as well as Terrence Boyd, a top 50 recruit in 2009. He’s vastly [...]

    • SLAM ONLINE | » Do You, Jeremy Posted: Apr.29 at 6:26 pm
      [...] is this different from Jeremy Tyler’s situation? This is a 6-11, 260-pound beast from San Diego that is projected as the first pick of the NBA’s 2011 Draft. Instead of [...]

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