Cal guard Jaylon Tyson is among 32 Division I players nationally averaging at least 20 points this season. The collection of players posting at least 20 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists per game is much more exclusive: Tyson is all by himself among those from a major conference.
The 6-foot-7 junior transfer from Texas Tech enters tonight’s Pac-12 game at Colorado averaging 20.1 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists. If he were to finish the season with those numbers, he’d be the first Cal player ever to do so, and that includes Jason Kidd, who went on to post 107 triple-doubles in a Hall of Fame career in the NBA.
Tyson has become the Bay Area’s best player, and it’s not merely because he has scored 20 points or more 16 times, including 30 when the Bears (13-15, 8-7 Pac-12) claimed an 82-78 win over Colorado (18-9, 9-7) back on Jan. 10.
He has helped elevate the Bears by 10 victories (and counting) over a year ago, when they were 3-29. They take the floor tonight just a half-game out of fourth place in the Pac-12, which would reward them with a first-round bye at the conference tournament, beginning March 13 in Las Vegas.
That’s just a starting point for the Bears, Tyson said. He’s inspired by the example of the 2021 Oregon State team that was 11-11 before stunning the field at the Pac-12 tournament to earn an NCAA berth, then advancing to the Elite 8 round before exiting.
“I think this team can make that happen,” Tyson said. “I think we can really make a run in the Pac-12 tournament.”
Tyson, one of four first-year transfer starters playing for new coach Mark Madsen, showed his grit on Saturday when he came back from a nasty-looking fall on his left arm late in the first half to score 16 of his 27 points in a 69-64 win over Oregon.
“It feels better with a win,” he said. “You can chop my arm off and I’ll play.”
The performance came two days after Tyson’s worst game of the season, a seven-point effort on 3-for-15 shooting against Oregon State. Madsen wasn’t surprised by how Tyson responded.
“Jaylon Tyson holds himself to an incredibly high standard,” Madsen said. “He has been a fantastic leader. I’ve been incredibly impressed with him on and off the court, taking teammates to dinner. Being a glue guy in the locker room. Helping younger players, pushing guys.”
A natural wing, Tyson has essentially played point guard since Devin Askew was declared out for the season with a foot injury in early January.
“It’s been great for me,” Tyson said. “I’ve been learning how to be a leader, make my teammates around me better. Growing up I’ve always been a scorer. I’ve been able to show I can do more.”
The NBA apparently has taken notice. Bleacher Report, in a recent mock draft, projects Tyson going at No. 18.
“Jaylon Tyson keeps pumping out huge scoring outputs with the type of self-creation and three-level shotmaking that’s limited in the projected 2024 draft field,” Jonathan Wasserman wrote. “At 6-7, 215 pounds, he’s too skilled on/with the ball, including as a secondary playmaker, for NBA teams to overthink his offensive effectiveness.”
An NBA scout who has watched Cal play multiple times this season, believes Tyson’s versatility could make him a first-round pick.
“To me, he’s a complete player — he does everything. He plays on both ends of the floor and plays hard,” the scout said last week. “He’s a Swiss Army knife. He’s kind of like their Draymond Green — he defends, he rebounds, he can handle the ball, he can make plays for other people.”
Tyson plans to declare for the draft after the season to get evaluations from NBA scouts and personnel folks. He’ll retain the option of returning to school, but makes no bones about the fact playing in the NBA has been his ambition since he was a youngster.
“Am I in a rush? No,” he said. “It’s (about) what makes sense for me. Where I’ll be (taken in the draft) . . . am I ready to be a NBA player? It’s one of the biggest decisions of my life.”
Dons, Zags clash at Chase
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USF (22-7, 11-3 WCC) hosts Gonzaga (22-6, 12-2) on Thursday (8 p.m. on ESPN2), in a game with ramifications for seeding in the West Coast Conference tournament. And the Dons are playing this critical home game off campus at the Warriors’ Chase Center.
Asked about the potential to lose some home-court edge in a larger venue, USF coach Chris Gerlufsen acknowledged, “I initially probably did not like the idea, but sometimes you’ve got to think outside the box and try something to try to elevate your program.”
He said moving the game out of the 5,300-seat War Memorial Gym at the Sobrato Center is about the big picture.
“We’re looking at it to put our league and our program in a different light,” he said. “Hopefully, it can be an event for the city. And we can turn this into a thing that has an opportunity to grow.”
