Nazir Tyler knew he was in for some good times.
He just didn’t know how good things would be.
Tyler is a junior swingman on the Father Judge High School basketball team, and prior to entering Judge, it had been a long time since the Crusaders made the Palestra. That means it had been a very long time since Judge advanced to the Catholic League semifinals.
The Crusaders had some good seasons, but hadn’t made the Palestra since last winning a Catholic League championship in 1998.
Tyler had no concerns. He only had goals.
“One of the reasons I picked here, I saw the vision, and I saw the direction they were headed in,” said Tyler, who lives in Parkwood. “How the guys there had gotten better. (Coach) Chris Roantree, his first year they were dead last. That’s real work. It takes time, but he has gotten the program better each and every year he’s been here. I saw that and how good they were getting and that made me want to play here.”
Tyler is now in his third year at Judge and he’s led the Crusaders to the Palestra. A few times.
In his freshman year, when Tyler was the lone ninth-grade starter, Tyler helped the Crusaders make the PCL semifinals. That year, they fell to Roman Catholic in the team’s first appearance at the University of Pennsylvania in more than 20 years.
As a sophomore, Tyler not only helped Judge get back to the Palestra, the Crusaders won two games there including the Catholic League championship.
This year, the Crusaders turned the trick again, once again winning the Catholic League championship.
“I would say once we got to the Palestra sophomore year, I knew we had a good chance to win the PCL,” Tyler said. “We had guys with experience. We had the MVP of the league, we had the best player. I think we had great players around him, even guys off the bench. That was key. When guys came in, there was no drop-off, just as good, start everywhere. That was so key. Once we got to the Palestra, I knew we had a chance to win this thing because we had the right type of guys. Same as this year.”
The way Judge wins is always the same.
Protect the basketball, play strong defense and score.
They’ve had come-from-behind wins, led coast to coast and won game at the buzzer.
But this year was a lot different for Tyler.
Every year he has picked up a little more responsibility. This year was his biggest season thus far, and his play rewarded the Crusaders for having confidence in him since the day he stepped on campus.
“Last year really my role was to be out there and to be a competitor and winner,” Tyler said. “Take my shots, my teammates found me. Keying on the defensive end, I took pride in that, following it, and being an all-around player. Not be one dimensional. I have to be doing whatever it takes for my team to win.”
This year, his role increased, and that worked out well for the Crusaders. Not only did they go back to back in the PCL, they won a state championship and this year fell one game shy of defending their title. Judge fell to Imhotep Charter 51-48 in a state semifinal.
The only way you could consider this season, or any season that includes a Catholic League championship, would be to call it a massive success.
“Guys had to step up and we knew that,” Tyler said. “Take on bigger roles. Obviously guys had to play better. Fill in the spot. You can’t replace those guys. You don’t do it by getting two or three guys, you get it by having a core group that feeds into one. The guys waited their turn and they excelled. I think we were all on the same page, locked in, getting better each and every day. Winning back to back is really hard. We had to get better.”
Tyler certainly did his part.
He not only took on a bigger role on the court, he worked with the younger guys. He knew exactly how they were feeling.
“I tried to help, definitely, it was important as one of the leaders, we push the freshmen,” he said. “We allow them to make mistakes. Watch film, get better. It was the only way it would work. If they play, they need help from older guys. I tried to help them a lot, just see things on the court. Defensive looks, how they look as a player. Small stuff that goes a long way.”
Tyler has the Crusaders in position to be competitive again next year. Sure some key players graduate, just like last year.
When the time comes, Tyler is ready to take over and be the leader. He’s had a lot of help becoming that man.
“My dad, both my parents support me a lot, but in the gym, my dad has been my mentor,” Tyler said. “We’re in the gym a lot, we watch games, we watch film. We watch things, he’s been there since I started, all the workouts, all the preparation. It’s gotten me there. I’ve always been a student of the game, I’m a basketball junkie, love college, NBA. even watching our games and other players, high school.
“And we have a great coaching staff. The coaches here have you ready. They have you ready for everything. They care about you as players and people.”
That’s one of the reasons he’s so happy to win for Judge.
He’s also happy for his team.
“I think it goes to show a lot of the work the team and coaching staff has done with us over the years,” Tyler said. “I think it shows how hard we work. It goes to show what we’re capable of as a team and program. You talk about Judge, three or four years ago, nobody is talking about us. Now we have back to back. It shows there’s a new team coming, one of the blue bloods of the Catholic League. It says a lot about the coaching staff and the work they put in over the years.”
