A True All-American Athlete
The L.A. Times profiled UCLA basketball-signee Tyler Honeycutt for his volleyball skills. In the video, he talks about playing volleyball because it is fun.
A funny thing happens when coaches recruit: they search for potential. Coaches want loyal kids, good teammates, hard worker and kids with commitment. They search for athletes. Obviously, Honeycutt is a skilled basketball player or he would not get a scholarship offer to a top 20 basketball program. But, his volleyball experience also illustrates the characteristics that coaches desire.
Most teenagers in his situation would be focusing day and night on preparing for his freshman year of collegiate basketball.
Honeycutt lifts weights every day and spends an hour in the gym shooting jump shots by himself, but he refuses to abandon the friends he made on the volleyball team four years ago when he was a no-name freshman.
“I made a commitment,” he said.
And so there he is, the top volleyball player at Sylmar and perhaps in the City Section, playing a sport he will probably never compete in again, just so he can help the Spartans win a championship.
It’s his way of showing loyalty, and it’s a breath of fresh air in an era where standout teenage athletes are always in a hurry to get their first big paycheck or make it to the NBA, the NFL or the major leagues.
Honeycutt wants to reach the NBA, but there’s nothing wrong with him taking some time to enjoy his final months of high school. And just because he’s playing volleyball doesn’t mean his basketball skills are being stifled.
He’s doing so much jumping that it might help him in basketball.
