Transcript: Tylar Robinson on Faith, Game-Winners, and Asking for the Ball

Good morning and welcome back to Late Start Show. We are here today with senior captain of both the Varsity football team and basketball team, leader of FOCUS, which we'll talk about later, and the man who scored this past week's game winner against Gilmour on Saturday, Tylar Robinson. How are you doing today, Tylar? I'm doing good.

How are you guys? Doing well. Obviously, Charlie and I, you know, we've been in the same grade for a while and I know you pretty well, but for the people who don't know, what is your story like? Where'd you come from?

What was your childhood like? What did your house feel like? Yeah. So before I came to US, I went to Euclid City Schools all my life.

I went to Euclid Middle School. Central was shut down when I went, but that's where I grew up in grade school. Then I played football for Euclid City Schools and all that type of stuff. I tried to come to US a couple of times before.

I didn't do well in the IC test, but later on I got here in eighth grade and the journey's been here ever since. Now, what was that first moment you came onto your radar? When did you know, you know, in seventh grade, yeah, or eighth grade, yeah, you know, this is what I want to do. This is where I'm going to be.

So mom really, like parents do, really make decisions for us. So she recommended to me I shadowed and I shadowed Russ, Russ Nobles. And that was a good experience. I sent you guys, and this was like, yeah, this is something I'm down to do.

A great opportunity, a great school, a great place, and I was in for it. So we were actually there on the – our first day was the same day, and I remember walking through the handshake line right in front of you. How did that feel like when you first came to U.S.? What was the vibe like, and when did you start to feel like, yeah, this is my home?

Yeah, it was a culture shock at first, especially for a lot of minorities at the school. It was different. No girls in the school. It was just a different type of vibe.

But I soon to grow brothers in this and friendships throughout the time, me being here, knowing Charlie for a while, knowing you. And then just being with you guys, I was just excited. Excited to learn new people, new situation. And I was just happy to be there once I started getting up and running.

Now, Kyle, let's jump from the Shaker campus to the Hunting Valley campus. walk us through in your mind what changed the most obviously you know there's a shock for everybody we're all coming up for freshmen you remember orientation day you remember some of those days but what was that big shock for you uh the school work honestly uh I came the lower school it was a big test for me but then coming up here it was like oh I'm gonna be up all night doing work and they're having long practices so it was long days were long um however I'm grateful for it now, looking back. And yeah, it was just long days. The schoolwork was a little complicated, but I came in with a mindset that whatever I was doing, I was going to do the best. I was going to be the best at what I did, whether that's on the football field, on the court, in the classroom, being a leader, whatever way I can, I was going to make the most of out of my opportunities.

And that's what I did. And I'm grateful for that. As a freshman, you came in and you got opportunities we'll talk about later, but to be on sports scenes with some upperclassmen and to really interact with them. But who are some of those upperclassmen that kind of took you under their wing?

Number one, Justin Belcher. I look up to Justin to this day. Just a great guy, amazing leader, amazing friend, amazing brother. With the things that he's doing at Williams is amazing.

And when I met Justin, I chipped him a little bit, saying, I'm better at basketball. And he showed me, he killed me in practice every day. But and it was just I just love Justin. He was that leadership.

He talked to me after games, before games. And that is just someone you need in your life, someone who can set the example at a place like U.S. and who can be a vessel to others. Let's go to the sports aspect of your life. Obviously, it's a huge part of your high school career.

But even going back, what sport grabbed you first? Was it football, basketball? Maybe did we see Tylar in baseball? Like, what was the first sport that like really grabbed onto you?

So believe it or not, my first ever sport was soccer. Like most people. My first ever sport was soccer. I played with Otto Rukenbroad, who is a junior now.

I played soccer, and it started at like three years old. I played soccer. I was competing. It was girls, boys on the team.

It was everybody. And then that's when I started playing basketball. At first, I was so nervous, so scared to pick up a basketball. I told my mom.

I was just so scared. But then the first game, I scored a bucket, and that took off ever since. The rest is history. The rest is history.

And then football, that happened later on. And at first, my grandparents and stuff, they were opposed to it a little bit. But now I have a big support system behind me. But that's just how it happened.

It was soccer, basketball, and then football. And it's just those things I just took on ever since. But we left soccer where it's at. Now, Charlie and I got to play with you in basketball in eighth grade. and then we kind of fell off.

I miss you guys. How would you describe your role on the basketball court, kind of your style of play, you know, transitioning from being a ninth grader, just trying to earn minutes, to now being a senior that the team, you know, kind of runs through? I'm just a competitor. And the things that I do, I want to compete.

I want to make guys better. And I know you guys can testify to this, that there was moments on those eighth grade teams where my leadership kind of overstepped the friendship aspect. And sometimes I was a little hard on my teammates, but it's because I care. I care about those around me.

I care about those who are playing alongside me, my coaches, the system. I care and I want to win. And I want everyone bought into that. And that's my model now.

That's where I'm growing with these young guys on the football team. You know, last winter you guys went 14-10 and picked up a huge win over Gilmour along the way. Take us back to that game in the gym. What does the rival, obviously, you know, as me and Jack are out there in the student section, we see what it's like just for us kind of giving you guys that energy to play, but take us what it's like to being on the court, seeing us go crazy off of every one of your guys' wins.

So before the game, I took a nap. And I took a nap I was actually up in a Ms TH office laying on the couch I took a long nap with like an hour left before we get to warm up I get up, I warm up. I was feeling very jittery, a lot of nervous. A lot of people don't think about me, but I get nervous.

I get the butterflies before the games. And then coming into that gym, it was just crazy. You know, sections filled, like everyone side by side. Like it was just crazy.

And I'm like, okay, this is going to be a show. So warming up, and I'm getting a warm up. We starting to feel better. And then when the game rolls in, it's just time to ball.

So I kind of like black out in moments like that and just put my best foot forward. And that was a great atmosphere. I think that was one of the best crowds we've had ever. Yeah, especially in that gym like that.

And I think Coach McDonald, he even said that it was like almost over 100 people who got turned away. So it was just an amazing atmosphere. Just playing, hearing you guys. just cheer us on. It was just amazing.

And I'm so grateful for that. Now the season, last season ended in the district semifinal on such a close game. I've experienced some of those losses where it's like one inch, one play. So many things could have gone differently, but they didn't.

And when that final buzzer went off, what was the feeling like in the locker room? And kind of what personally did you take from that loss into this summer, into this next season? We was hurt. Kingston, me, Mario, and those guys on that group of team was so special because we fought so hard in the off season.

And even we were freshmen and sophomores playing JV together, playing a ridiculous schedule, playing great teams all across Northeast Ohio. And it just, it hurt because we've been doing this together all along. And so the locker room was torn up. I was torn up.

I also felt a little, you know, like put a little pressure on me as if I could have done better to win us the game. I didn't make the final shot. But just along the final shot, I just felt like I didn't put us in the best position to win as a leader. But that was a talented team.

That was a, we played a talented Hawken team as well. Shout out to those guys. And, you know, those are games I wish we had back. You know, speaking of games that you've just kind of performed amazing in, You've had so many different games that you've had where 20-plus points, 10-plus rebounds.

But one of the moments that I think about in Tylar's basketball career is that buzzer beater against CVCA. Talk about that moment. What was it like on the court? What's that whole crowd feeling?

I wasn't there for the game, which is so sad. But what was just the atmosphere like after that ESPN Top 10 moment? CVCA was a great team at the time. team at the time. And I didn't think the play was going to be written up for me, honestly.

I thought it was going to be written up to Aditya, who's at MIT right now, is going to do great things and is an amazing shooter. I'll say it was the best shooter in the country last year. But coach said, let's write this up. So as we're inbounding the ball, we're a little special inbound play, our banana cut play.

I get the ball and I actually had another second left to dribble, which I didn't even know that till after the game but I just uh those are those are shots that I don't necessarily practice but when I'm playing around with those guys we you know having fun after before practice you're shooting those shots and it was just amazing to see it go in um and yeah of course you don't get those I was there and I'm not gonna lie I didn't have much hope and then seeing that go in I think we all rushed the court and just like it was a lot of fun you know let's go to football obviously early in your career you're used all over the offense you know the huddle still list you as a quarterback but then you've moved to running back you've moved so so many different times over the offense what did some of those early roles look like and what did you learn about the game playing on the freshman team kind of building your way through this football program itself so yeah the early stages in my freshman year I played a little bit in the in our first playoff game versus uh VASJ um I ran the ball like once or twice but that was a real atmosphere that I got to feel on the varsity field. And since then, I've been moving around. I took a step back from quarterback, played receiver, played some DB. It took a huge role my sophomore year playing safety.

I had like 80 something or 90 tackles, a few interceptions, and I was used on both sides of the ball just to be a dominant playmaker wherever that is. And now I'm doing those same roles, just impacting the team the best way I can to give us the best opportunity to win. And yeah. Now, I want to talk about under the lights at the Shaker campus.

You know, football is a sport that brings the whole community together. And I think that time, that game, I mean, that was one of the coolest moments I've seen in this community. Seeing alumni, seeing us as students be there, lower school students were all there. What was it like being on that field, playing that game, getting the win under the lights at the Shaker campus?

Yeah, I wish we could play on the Shaker campus now. But that moment was so amazing. Before the game, actually, St. Charles, they stepped on our turf.

So we had a little – they were scraping up the turf a little bit. So we had a little chip on our shoulders, Nick. But it was just such an amazing experience. And then just be able to compete with those guys like Mateo, those guys like Colin, who I've been best friends with and family with since I came to upper school and took me under their wing It helped me grow and been great leaders.

And then we were just able to execute and just win. And that was just great in front of a nice crowd, amazing crowd. You just can't get moments like that again. You know, before we talk about this past Saturday's game, let me go back to last year.

Last year against Gilmour, you guys are down 15 to nothing before Nico came in as a sophomore, led the comeback. What were you seeing on the field as that game flipped? You had a huge role in that game. So let's talk about what kind of last year's game looked like for you and what you carried into this Saturday.

So last year I was actually going through a hip injury. I wasn't feeling the best throughout the season. And Gilmour game was one of those. I popped a lot of pain medicine before the game just so I can be able to put my best foot forward for my team But Nico Morelli he stepped in and he showed what he can do And he put the team on his back and he executed And our defense stood up.

That was an amazing day for the defense. And that win is going to go down in history. The grit and the grittiness of that team were able to fight back and stop. We originally stopped them in the first half when they were on the goal line. and then we just took over.

Now we have to talk about Saturday. For anyone who missed it, you guys beat the school up the street 25-18, which was the second year that you beat them in a row. Take us to that moment, right? Under five minutes left.

I'm not going to lie. When it was 18-10, hope was slim, okay? And then Tylar comes through. Nico hits you twice.

You take the second one, 40 yards to the end zone with just a minute, 21 to go. I mean, what was that moment like? Did you know you were scoring? What's the first thing you remember when you crossed that end zone and got that score to tie up the game and put us up?

Yeah, the first thing I told coach, I need the ball. I told him, let's give me the ball. Let's run our play to me, our screenplay, and let's make it happen. I tried to vouch for it earlier in the game, but he caught in in a perfect moment.

And in just those moments, I executed it. I wanted to put the team on my back and show that I am who I say I am. And I want to be amazed. I want to do great things.

I want to make U.S. a special place. And that's what I did. I said, I need the ball, so let's get it. Was that two-point conversion drawn up or you turned around and threw?

Yes, that was drawn up. It was blocked horribly, but it was drawn up. You know, now that we're kind of through the football and basketball, let's talk about the recruiting side for it. So for listeners who've never been through it, I mean, I haven't.

Walk us through about how that's actually started for you. Where do things right now stand with your recruitment? And is there a timeline that you have set for yourself about, yeah, no, I like that school. I see myself going there.

Yeah, so recruitment popped out a little late for me. Some MAC schools, some FCS schools, and even schools like Georgetown, some great academic schools. And I was staying really close in touch with me. I never, I didn't have anyone to look up to or to help me through the process as much.

So I had to learn myself on how to recruit on the recruitment process. Because it's all a business. It's all a business and it's just about the right fit for you as well. Where can you play?

Where can you get the best advantage? Where can you get a great school that you can start off and enjoy the rest of your career and be financially stable and all that? So just thinking about these opportunities, it's been a journey for me. Like I talked about in my senior speech, I even considered leaving because I didn't think I had the opportunities that I deserved or had those opportunities that I think I wanted.

And I think God is working it out the way he is. Just a little sneak peek. We might be heading down to Pitt in a few days, going out to the game and recruiting. See, now it is.

It is what it is. So I'm happy. I'm glad that young guys and people who see me doing what I'm doing is like, okay, it might not look ideal. It might not look like the five-star you see on social media, the four-star you see on social media who goes to whatever such school, but there's opportunity wherever you go.

And what is your message? Because for kids who might have that same thought of you, it's like, well, I come to a small school like US, I might not get that exposure. What do you have to say to them as someone who put your head down, right? Got to work, had a transformation, put yourself in a position to be able to be recruited and to, you know, Now you are like the star of the school.

I think everyone responds to that. And what's your message to kids who may have that same thought as you, the hesitation of like, well, I'm not going to get the same looks? Well, I had to look at a mirror, in a mirror for a moment and realize that the ball stops eventually. It'll stop in 20 years, in 30 years, in five years.

It might stop tomorrow. So wherever you want to be, you want to be in a place that can help you, where you can build relationship with the people that goes beyond just you playing football, playing basketball, or you just doing those things, you know, because those are, life is short and those times are even shorter. That is a temporary moment. And I think a place like U.S. is so amazing because it taught me how to grow and to be a man, the man I wanted to be.

And the people around me, like you guys, I can talk, we can chill, we can connect, we can, you know, there is, there's life in that and I think basketball football can't give you that that blessing you know it can't give you those opportunities so now let's talk about one of your switch ups that I know we talked about before last spring you decided to run track which is you know not something that most guys just randomly pick up as a junior where did that idea come from who did you have to convince and was it just something that you saw as conditioning or was it something that yeah you know I want to compete at a higher level I want to do this or that that's exactly what it was, Charlie. One of our track coaches vouched for me and wanted me to run track for a very long time. And I did it. I was opposed to it.

And not only was I opposed to it, I was playing AAU at the time, playing AAU basketball. So I was just locked in on basketball. So that's really what I was doing. But once I got hurt with my hip injury last year, I really wanted to fine tune my body, focus in on what I wanted to do.

And track was a great opportunity for me to get faster, more athletic, and take me to the next step, become an elite athlete. So it's like, let's do that. Now I want to talk about something, you talked about things that go on beyond US. One of those things is your faith and FOCUS.

And one of the reasons I'm so grateful you stayed here is because we now get to lead FOCUS together along with Mac Hurley. And we've, you know, Big thanks to you have built this group of students that is now over 60 that come to these meetings. So you talk about what that group has meant to you, how you've been able to lead it and to grow it and really the importance of it. God is everything And I love when I see guys transforming in their faith and I can be a part of that and they can be a part of mine Guys on our sports teams guys in the classroom who you never may think to have issues to have problems to have concerns to have questions could just come together in one unison and express those and talk them out and cry together and love one each other and hug each other.

And that's just nothing else can do that. No sport, no college opportunity, no set of money. It can bring a group of young men, a group of people together in a way that our group does. I think one of the core things that I think your legacy is going to leave at U.S. is post-football, basketball games.

There's this moment when y'all go out to the center and either pray or just meditate on the game as a whole. So what kind of did you bring to that and what did you add and do you think it's worth it to do or is it just something that you guys do just to chill after the game? That is something that I brought to all my sports teams before the game, after the game, because it's giving glory and honor to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I don't absolutely oppose anything, no religion on anyone.

If you're welcome, I invite you to those moments. Absolutely. But those are just, I think that is so powerful that we thank higher power for the things that we are able to enjoy in life. And the things that also may look like mistakes or may look like bad to us, we are grateful for those moments because they teach us lessons.

So that is what I've been trying to bring all over our school. um yeah now in true Tylar fashion you gave a senior speech that earned you a standing ovation um and people are still talking about so for those that weren't there what was the message of that speech what was the goal of that speech and then can you and then another special thing was that your younger brother Logan got to introduce you so can you talk about that moment and really what your goal was with that speech yeah it was a I love I love my speech I love my brother's part of the speech. It made me proud. It made me a happy big brother. But the point of my speech was really, it was a humbling speech to tell future U.S. boys and young men who outside, who are thinking about U.S., who are considering U.S., who come from a different lifestyle, different experience, that a place like this is important because, and I am an example of someone who was opposed to it, someone who in their journey didn't like it anymore.

And I think it was so important because I want those people to be better than I was. So if you're an athlete, I want you to be able to write, to read. I want you to be able to have everything and what life has to offer. And that's what U.S. brings.

And once I learned that being here and I matured and looked myself in the mirror, I think others are deserving of that as well. You know, you'll get one more shot, Gilmour, on the basketball court this winter. Is being in the gym different than being them on the field? And if you could keep only one of those wins, which one would it be?

Can't answer that. I can't answer that one. I can't answer that one, man. Because when we play them in the gym, it's going to be just as good as an atmosphere, just as good as an experience for everyone around us, and just as competitive.

And that's exactly how I want it. And whether that's on a football field, whether it's in a basketball court, or whether that's us supporting the hockey team or the baseball team and seeing you guys play against our rival school, those are just moments that I'm so grateful for. Now, Tylar, a lot of people from the outside see the touchdowns, the big shots, but us that know you personally know you're much more than that. Your leader, big brother, friend, brother to us.

So how do you want to be remembered inside these walls at University School? I want to be remembered as a brother and a person whose life wasn't perfect at all. It wasn't perfect because I know a lot of people think I got it all down, think I got all the answers, and I don't. And I'm still asking questions.

I'm still learning myself, and I want those around me to believe in themselves and believe that what they have to offer in life is so, so valuable. The way they can change the world, the way they can impact another person, impact myself is so, so important because I've experienced that. I experienced being doubtful of my own capabilities. And so I am to this day.

And I know a lot of us can relate to that. And I want guys to remember that you matter. You have a voice. And what you bring into this world, what you bring into the U.S., what you can do on a big stage, on a small stage, is so important. and you can achieve the stars.

Well, Tylar, this is the question that we always end on and yours has a pretty consistent story running through it. You're a three-sport varsity athlete while captaining two of those teams and then also running FOCUS on the side. On Saturday, you ice the game and then on Friday, you look to be a team that includes family members of your own. So when the alarm goes off and you have to make hard decisions often and then usually excel at those hard decisions, what is your why?

What gets you out of bed in the morning keeps you going day after day? My why is for the reasons after the game and those kids who I go to school with and those kids who are at the lower school be like, Ty, let's take a picture. Ty, can I get a picture with you? Ty, listen, that just warms my heart.

And my family and people that look up to me, I just want to make others happy. I love putting a smile on other people's faces. And if I can do that each and every day, all day throughout the week, whether that's in the classroom or on the athletic field, that is what I want to do. Well, Tylar, it's been great having you on the show.

Thank you so much for taking the time to share insights and experiences and stories with us. To our listeners, thank you so much for tuning in. And we'll hope you will join us next Wednesday for another episode of Late Start Show. Thanks, Tylar.

Thank you.