Tyler Cyboron has been racking up points both on and off the court.
The senior guard for the Tiger men’s basketball team holds a 4.0 grade point average as well as an average of 7.6 points per game, which helped him earn a place on ESPN The Magazine’s Academic All-District list last week.
Coach Ian Brown said that he wasn’t surprised when he found out that Cyboron was being honored.
“He’s a 4.0 student, reliable, trustworthy, motivated,” he said. “The honor it bestows upon him speaks volumes of his character. He deserves it.”
Cyboron, a graduate of Ravenna High School in Ravenna, Neb., was one of two NAIA athletes to receive second team honors in District 7, which consists of teams in NCAA Division II and III, as well as the NAIA, in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Wyoming and the Canadian provinces Alberta and Saskatchewan.
He said he didn’t know much about being nominated until Rick Schmuecker notified him that he’d made the list.
“I’m not really sure how it happened,” Cyboron said. “Rick just asked me for my activities and achievements in an e-mail, and then I wasn’t told anything else until I was surprised with the news.”
McFarland said that Cyboron had displayed leadership qualities since the beginning of his college career.
“He’s always known what and when things need to get done,” he said. “His priorities have always been in order.”
Brown said that he felt there was a direct carryover from athletics to academics, and Cyboron definitely worked hard at both.
“Tyler’s a quiet leader - not really a ‘rah-rah’ personality,” he said. “He’s quiet and he does his job effectively.”
Senior Brett McFarland said he was proud of his friend and teammate.
“It’s obviously a good honor,” he said. “With the way he takes care of his schoolwork and academic business, and to be able to balance that with the rest of his life, it really shows his character.”
Cyboron said that he thought it was nice to be rewarded for his achievements.
“Since basketball is a team sport, it’s nice to see individual hard work pay off – especially with classroom accomplishments,” he said.
Cyboron, a business administration major with a finance emphasis, has been one of the Tigers’ key players this season. In addition to his average 7.6 points, he has 2.3 rebounds per game while leading the team with a 47.5-percent average from the three-point arc.
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