BJ Tyson, Anson High School and ECU star, tries out for a professional basketball team in the Dominican Republic.
Contributed Photo
BJ Tyson broke records while playing basketball at Eastern Carolina University.
Contributed Photo
WADESBORO — A former Anson High School basketball star found his way back to the game after not playing for three years, and is fighting for the chance to be on professional team abroad.
B.J. Tyson, of the class of 2013, traveled to the Dominican Republic at the beginning of January. He has been training, playing and trying out for the country’s professional basketball league. Tyson hopes to find out if his dream of making the team comes true by the end of the month.
Basketball is all Tyson has known since he was one year old. He said his father was a great player too, naturally passing the talent onto him.
“When I was in middle school, I tried out for the basketball team,” Tyson said. “I made the team but I barely played my seventh grade year. I felt that pain that I never wanted feel again. It just made me go harder.”
That feeling of not being the best only pushed him to come back as the best middle school player. This determination followed him throughout his career as Tyson faced other obstacles.
The high school coach at the time came to one of Tyson’s middle school practices to watch him play. By the summer, Tyson and a few other middle schoolers started to workout with the varsity team. His work ethic and hustle showed immediately when Tyson became close with the coach.
“I’d say about every morning (coach) used to come and pick me up around 5:30 or 6,” Tyson said. “We’d be in the big gym in the high school gym from six to close to when school started. I’d go to class from there.”
By his ninth grade year, he made the varsity team. But he also played on the JV team because he didn’t want to be sitting on the bench all season long as the upperclassmen got most of the playing time.
He started playing off the bench as a sophomore year, eventually making his way to the starting five that season.
“My junior year I started to grow,” Tyson laughed. “I started to get taller. I was probably 5’11”, 6 foot my sophomore year going to junior year. I actually grew an inch and was 6’1” my junior year and averaged 18 (points).”
It was really in his last year at Anson High School that Tyson pulled away and become a star. He averaged about 28 points a game, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals. Tyson was player of the conference his senior year and finished in the top of the state for all time scorers.
A similar feeling of not being good enough returned. Tyson did not have any college offers to play basketball until his senior year. He said there was not even an offer from a Division II university or junior college.
Tyson and his mother sat down to determine what would be his next step. He played for an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team after high school to prepare and better his game.
It was at an AAU game in Clemson that Tyson got picked up by East Carolina University. Tyson showed the coach his willingness to sacrifice his body as a guard by taking charges or penalties for the team — which is what he was known for in Anson.
“The journey of getting on the team was not easy,” Tyson said. “My grades were not good coming out of high school.”
He was on academic probation his freshman year in 2013. Tyson had to show coaches and staff that he was capable of being at school. Determined to get on the team, he ended the year with a 3.1 GPA.
While at ECU, Tyson broke multiple records. He was one of the fastest players to score 1,000 points in a certain amount of games at ECU and held the all-time leading scorer for the American Athletic Conference title for a little.
His name was on a NBA mock draft as a junior, but after an injury that sidelined him for seven games, he saw his dreams fade. He did have one workout with the Charlotte Hornets after college, but he did not get anything from that workout.
He struggled getting representation and finding out the business side of making it to the professional league. His college coaches did not help him after he finished at ECU, but he finally found an agency to help him chase his dreams.
“If it wasn’t for this corona stuff, I probably would have ended up in Portugal for my first professional career,” Tyson said. “But because of COVID, everything was shut down. Seasons were canceled.”
Tyson’s coach knew someone in the Dominican Republic that was putting together a team of American players to play against the country’s professional teams.
“My first game was a rocky start,” Tyson said. “I haven’t really played this type of game in three years.”
Each game he feels more confident as he is getting back into the game he has loved his whole life. The journey in a new country is difficult, but Tyson is thankful to be there for an opportunity to play professionally.
Tyson is connecting with players, who now feel like family, which is making his transition to a new country a little easier. The style of life is slower and the weather is much hotter than what he is used to in North Carolina.
“Hopefully before I come back to the states, I will have an idea of me getting signed or if I have to continue to find my journey,” Tyson said. “It’s all about how I perform…I feel like I’m in the right area to start my professional career.”
His game evolved from being the “high flying B.J. Tyson” of high school to a mature and smarter overall player. The years between his time at Anson and now allowed Tyson to grow as a communicator and leader on a team.
Tyson credits his determination to keep going to personal events he had to overcome. His junior year of college, his mom was diagnosed with stage four stomach cancer. He lost his biggest fan, his father, in 2019 and other family members close to him.
“Being the type of guy that I am, I fight through a lot of adversity,” Tyson said. “At the end of the day, I would say my motivation is my family and my son.”
