Ty Harrelson

Ty Harrelson

Harrelson during his tenure with BBC Bayreuth
Wayland Baptist Pioneers
Position	Head coach
League	Sooner Athletic Conference
Personal information
Born	(1980-09-22) September 22, 1980 Houston, Texas
Nationality	American / Australian
Listed height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Career information
High school	Sonora (Sonora, Texas) Rider (Wichita Falls, Texas)
College	Collin County CC (1999–2000) Cameron (2000–2001) Wayland Baptist (2001–2003)
NBA draft	2003 / Undrafted
Playing career	2003–2015
Position	Shooting guard / Point guard
Career history
As player:
2005–2006	TV Langen
2006–2008	BBC Bayreuth
2008	Kataja
2008	Falco KC Szombathely
2009–2010	Giro-Live Ballers Osnabrück
2011	Cockburn Cougars
2012	Goldfields Giants
2013–2015	South West Slammers
2017	South West Slammers
As coach:
2015–present	Wayland Baptist
Career highlights and awards
As player: 3× SBL All-Star Five (2011–2013) First-team NAIA All-American (2003) First-team All-Sooner Athletic Conference (2003) Third-team All-Sooner Athletic Conference (2002) As coach: SBL All-Star Game head coach (2015)

Ty Harrelson (born September 22, 1980) is an American-Australian former professional basketball player who played the majority of his career in Germany and Australia. He is currently the head coach of the Wayland Baptist men's basketball program. He is the son of former West Virginia University women's basketball coach Scott Harrelson.^[1]

High school career

Harrelson is the 27th all-time leading scorer in high school basketball for the State of Texas. During his four-year career, he totaled 2,786 points.^[2] From 1995 to 1998, Harrelson was a standout for Sonora High School before moving to S. H. Rider High School in Wichita Falls for his senior year.

College career

In 2003, Harrelson became the first ever first-team NAIA All-American for Wayland Baptist University.^[3] At WBU, Harrelson broke records for assists in a game (15), season assist average (6.8), season free throw percentage (88.8), consecutive free throws made (43), and was a two-time team Most Valuable Player (2002 and 2003). Harrelson was the Sooner Athletic Conference Player of the Week four times during his career and a 2003 first-team All-SAC member. He was on the Presidents List at WBU, named the Champions of Character Class Representative, and won the Award of Spirit (2003) for his athletic commitment.^[4]

Professional career

Harrelson playing for the SBL's Cockburn Cougars in 2011.

After going undrafted in the 2003 NBA draft, Harrelson signed with Bignami Castelmaggiore of Italy for the 2003–04 season. However, after averaging 12.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game during pre-season matches, he left the team when it was purchased by FuturVirtus. He subsequently did not play professionally in the 2003–04 or 2004–05 seasons.

Europe

In September 2005, Harrelson signed with TV Langen of the German 2nd Bundesliga for the 2005–06 season. Harrelson averaged 13.8 points, 5.8 assists, 5.8 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game leading the team from 15th place to fifth in the standings.

In 2006, Harrelson signed a two-year deal with BBC Bayreuth. He finished 2006–07 averaging 16.6 points and 6.8 assists, shooting 54.5% from the field as the club narrowly missed relegation to the Bundesliga. In 2007–08, he averaged 10.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game.^[5]

In the summer of 2008, Harrelson signed with Kataja Basket Club of Finland for the 2008–09 season. In October 2008, he left Kataja after appearing in just four games and joined Falco KC Szombathely of Hungary. However, he appeared in just four games for Kataja as well before parting ways with the club in November 2008.

In 2009, Harrelson signed with Giro-Live Ballers Osnabrück of Germany for the 2009–10 season.

Australia

In 2010, Harrelson moved to Australia and took up the job of being the Cockburn Cougars' Operation Manager. In October 2010, he signed with the Cougars for the 2011 State Basketball League season.^[6] Later that month, he was selected to represent Western Australia with the SBL All-Stars on a tour in Indonesia.^[7] In his first season with the team, the Cougars improved from just 8 wins and 18 losses to a 20 win and 10 loss season. The Cougars made the semi-finals, losing to the eventual champions in the Wanneroo Wolves. Harrelson, nicknamed "Typhoon" for his passing style and ability to score points quickly, scored 50 points in the playoffs against the Perth Redbacks.^[8] He was later named the 2011 SBL Point Guard of the Year and earned Team MVP honors for the Cougars averaging 22 points and 6 assists per game.

In December 2011, Harrelson signed with the Goldfields Giants as a player/assistant coach for the 2012 SBL season.^[9]

On October 11, 2012, Harrelson signed a three-year deal with the South West Slammers to be a player/coach.^[10] On October 30, 2014, he signed a new one-year deal with the Slammers to be player/coach in 2015.^[11]

In July 2017, Harrelson re-joined the Slammers as a player.^[12][13]

Coaching

Harrelson currently holds a level 1 and 2 coaching license through the Australian Sports Commission of the Australian Government. His first job was an assistant coach with the Goldfields Giants in 2012. He has conducted numerous basketball clinics, teaching the game of basketball to youth players all over the world including the United States, Germany and Western Australia.

On July 11, 2015, Harrelson was hired as head coach of the Wayland Baptist men's basketball program.^[14]

References

External links

• Wayland Baptist Pioneers coaching profile