Cavs Draft Pick Jaylon Tyson Urges New College Trend Is Not A Red Flag

Cleveland selected Tyson with the No. 20 overall pick in the NBA Draft

Cavaliers rookie Jaylon Tyson fields questions at his introductory press conference on July 27, 2024 / Spencer German

Jaylon Tyson was quick to set the record straight on his nomadic journey to the NBA.

The newest member of the Cleveland Cavaliers was unfurled publicly for the first time on Thursday for his introductory press conference. Tyson officially enters the association as a product of California Berkley, where he averaged 19.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists during his junior season.

Cal is the third stop of Tyson's college career though, after transferring to the Golden Bears from Texas Tech, where he transferred in for his sophomore season from The University of Texas. There's usually a stigma associated with multi-transfer players entering the NBA. Tyson sees it from a different perspective.

“It's all part of God's plan," the 21-year-old said. "I had to grow as a man. I had to grow as a human being, grow as a basketball player. And I feel like that's what put me in position today. Those three schools that I've been to, I've learned a lot from every single school I've been to. It's going to prepare me for this level that I'm encountering on, but I don't look back at it as a negative. And I don't want y'all to look at it as a negative."

The shifting landscape of college sports make players like Tyson more common than ever. Years ago multi-time transfer players were labeled immature, non-committal, uncoachable. Today, with the NIL and the transfer portal ruling the day, players bounce between programs more than ever and for a multitude of reasons.

"It's also a different landscape now," Cavaliers president of basketball operations added. "It's totally different than when I started. I mean, it's more common now that players have been to multiple schools, if not three. ... Sometimes it's a business proposition, sometimes it's a better career move to make that transition to another college."

Cavaliers first-round pick Jaylon Tyson and Koby Altman meet with the media following night 1 of the NBA Draft / Spencer German

For Tyson, it's easy to understand why his path led him to three different schools. Out of high school he was originally committed to Texas Tech thanks to a relationship he'd formed with then head coach Chris Beard. When Beard took the job at Texas, Tyson chose to follow him.

The experience didn't go as planned, which led to the Plano, Texas native pivoting back to the school he planned on attending from the beginning. Tyson had a productive sophomore season at Texas Tech averaging 10.7 points and 6.1 rebounds, but the situation soured after he claimed head coach Mark Adams had made racist remarks.

Adams was eventually suspended and resigned as head coach as Tyson entered the transfer portal again. That's when he landed at Cal, where he had the most productive season of his career under former Laker Mark Madsen.

It's a classic example of a player seeking the right situation to thriving. And one of the biggest reasons transferring is no longer the red flag it once was.

"Maybe the perspective back in the day was like, 'oh, he's transferred all the time,' It might've been the right decision for your career," said Altman. "And so I think it's way more of the norm now where you see different, until they find the right fit, find the right coach, find the right role, which is the best for their career, and now he's sitting at 20. So I don't take that as a negative."