Zach Braziller

Zach Braziller

Sports

Wash. Hts. star Myles is school’s first to land D-1 scholarship

Loyalty has taken Tyshawn Myles a long way.

He was loyal to Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School (WHEELS) Academy when other high-profile schools attempted to recruit him away, and loyal to his New Heights AAU program when other talented players left. That loyalty gave him the necessary exposure and the academic means to land a Division I scholarship.

Myles made history last week when he signed with Drexel, becoming the first student-athlete to earn an athletic scholarship from WHEELS Academy, a seven-year-old public school in Washington Heights.

“Once I commit to something, I tend to stay with it,” said Myles, a 6-foot-8, 220-pound forward from The Bronx. “I felt like I was rewarded for all the hard work I put in, all the times I stuck with it and didn’t give up.”

Myles is a success story, a player who has carved out his own legacy rather than follow others. He said he considered leaving WHEELS several times, but the support system there was too strong to abandon. He joked that on a daily basis he has had up to 10 people calling him, making sure he was on top of his schoolwork, reminding him of his bright future, and making sure he wasn’t following the path of so many other top local players who had to take the prep-school or junior-college route. Seeing others fail where he wanted to succeed served as motivation.

“I was from the same background as them, and knowing they had the opportunity to go somewhere with basketball and not making it because of not being dedicated, that made me think different,” Myles said.

Playing at a small school has its advantages. As the program’s focal point, Myles had teammates looking up to him, giving him constant incentive to work hard and develop leadership skills. After spending every spring and summer with New Heights, visibility was not a problem.

Myles has been the core of the basketball program at WHEELS, leading the Wolves to the PSAL Class B semifinals as a sophomore, a major reason the program moved up to Class A last winter, when he averaged 11 points and nine rebounds a game.

“I knew people were relying on me to help us prosper,” Myles said. “It made me a better player. It made me a better person.”

Myles is a mini-celebrity at WHEELS, a favorite of teachers and students alike. Coach Josh Krinsky hopes his signing has shown others playing at the small school can lead to a big future.

“It validates the growth of our program,” Krinsky said.

Drexel is thrilled to have him. Head coach Bruiser Flint said Myles’ size, mature build and athleticism intrigued him immediately. He expects Myles, a defensive dynamo who needs to refine his post moves on offense, to compete for minutes as a freshman and potentially blossom into an all-conference player.

“His motor and his size, strength and athleticism, even at his age right now, he can play in a college game physically,” Flint said. “We think he has a lot of upside.”


Former Curtis guard/forward DaShawn Richmond of JUCO Broward College (Fla.) committed to Cal-State Bakersfield on Wednesday.

LIU Brooklyn inked three players on Tuesday: Guards Trevin Woods and Trevon Woods, brothers from Texas, and Elvar Fridriksson, a point guard from Iceland.

Former Christ the King two-way star Jordan Fuchs verbally committed to play football at Rutgers. A former UConn commit attending prep school Milford (Conn.) Academy, Fuchs will look to walk-on for the basketball team and enroll at the school in the spring.

Wagner announced the signings of Corey Henson, Aaron Edmead and Corey Henson, a trio of versatile guards.

Manhattan hosted Iona Prep point guard Ty Jerome, Tottenville forward Nakye Sanders, Spring Valley, N.Y., point guard Rickey McGill Jr., a verbal commit, and Norwalk, Conn., forward Steve Enoch for its game last Saturday against George Washington. Iona, meanwhile, had Enoch, Cardinal Hayes forward Nathan Ekwu and Middletown, N.Y., guard Aaron Ray on campus for its game against Radford.

Former Lincoln star Tafari Whittingham of JUCO Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College signed with South Alabama on Tuesday.

St. Benedict’s Prep (N.J.) forward Norbertas Giga, a big man from Lithuania, signed with Florida State on Wednesday.