2006-07 Titan Player Journals

Tyler Smith (6-5 Senior Forward, Philo, IL - Tolono Unity H.S.)

2005-06 Stats: (averaged 2 min/game on varsity)

2004-05: Played JV

2003-04: Played JV

High school:  Team captain...averaged 18.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3 assists per game as senior on 26-5 team...shot 40% from 3-pt range...Champaign News Gazette "Player of the Year"...IBCA 1st Team all-state Class A...3-year starter, scoring more than 1400 points...led Tolono Unity to 4th place finish in state junior year, averaging 17.1 points per game..played for Class A South in 2003 IBCA all-star game.

Ron Rose: "Another young man who has waited his turn…can make shots and make a bunch of them in a short period of time…one of our best shooters, if not our best…has good size at the 3 and is going to play a very key role on the team this season."

Entry #2 - January 23, 2007

Titan Fans,

I can not believe it is already the middle of January and we are in the middle of another conference season. The last month has been pretty hectic one.

I recently started the last semester of my college career. It seems odd to think that in a couple months I will have graduated from Illinois Wesleyan. Everyone always tells you how fast time will go at college, but you never really appreciate that until you go through it and actually realize. As far as academically I am just finishing a few things up and working on passing the CPA exam. I have already accepted an accounting job in Chicago for next fall so it is a relief to have that process over.

As far as basketball goes in the New Year it definitely has not got off to the start that everyone was expecting. We were playing well coming into conference after a couple big wins, but after Carthage we have hit a skid in the season. Every team goes through some sort of setback throughout the season and at the end of the season the results will show how you handled it. Luckily we are a very close group of guys on and off the floor so we just need to stick together and rally around one another to get the job done.

Hopefully we can go into Augie and get a win to get us back on track. A win up there would be a big confidence boost and with the way the CCIW has played out thus far you never know what might happen with nine games remaining.

I will see all of you at our remaining games. The fans of Illinois Wesleyan really make it special to be a player here and from all of us we are truly grateful to have you on our side.

Go Titans!!!!!

Tyler Smith

#42

Entry #1 - November 15, 2006

Titan Fans,

It is finally that time of the year for basketball to really get going. After watching college basketball the past few nights on television I know the team and myself are getting anxious to tip off on Friday. It's a new start to the season and everyone is really excited about the opportunities and challenges that await us in the season.

So far practice has been going good and I think everyone in the program has adjusted to the style that Coach Rose wants to play. That first month of practice can be long but it was good for us as a team. Not only did we have to learn Coach's style and way of doing things, but as a group everyone had to take on new roles and adjust to each other. Coach Rose has been great so far in working with us and being patient at times as some of these kinks have been worked out.

The two scrimmages went well for us and it has given us an idea of how hard we are going to have to play all year along with what we need to work on to compete with our schedule. It should be a fun year and I know the team can not wait to start and show everyone how exciting of a year this can be for Titan Basketball!

I look forward to seeing some familiar faces on Friday in Whitewater.

Tyler Smith #42