Tyler Haws on Team USA

From www.deseretnews.com

I know, I'm slacking in my blogging again.  I thought I was the only one who had even noticed until I received this email this morning:

When is your next blog? You are just about pushing a full month.  I know it is summer, but your fans can’t stand to wait a full month without a BYU fix of some sort.

Alright, John, here ya go. Although I'm not even sure "fans" should be plural!

Let's talk about Mr. Tyler Haws! He's hitting the world stage right now as a member of Team USA in the World University Games in Kazan, Russia. From what I understand, it's kind of like a mini Olympics . . .

Tyler impressed the team coaches at the tryouts, and made the team of only 12 members, but he hasn't played much in the actual games, and unfortunately his performance hasn't been great in the minutes he has played.

The U.S. started out their trip by creaming the United Arab Emirates140 to 46. Tyler played 11 minutes and scored 4 points. Next, they beat the Czech Republic 96 to 53. Tyler played 12 minutes and scored 2 points. Then they beat Sweden 83 to 65. Tyler played 7 minutes and scored only 1 point.

Their first loss came yesterday to Australia, 84 to 93. Tyler got a DNP-CD . . . a phrase Jimmer has become all too familiar with the last two years. :( Then today, he played only 3 minutes against Canada and went 0 for 2 from the field, with 0 points. Unfortunately, with the loss to Canada today (85 to 94), the US team is out of medal contention. They're not done yet, though-- next game is vs. Norway on Sunday.

No matter the outcome, it's still awesome that Tyler was chosen to be a part of this team, and I think it will greatly benefit him, his family, BYU, and the Church in the long run. And he definitely hasn't wasted the opportunity to be a missionary.

Tyler is just such a cool guy . . . how can you not like a man who "hangs out" with his fans online and voluntarily plays the cup game with his little sister? Good luck, Ty! Hope you have a great experience in Russia and come back healthy and stronger next year to jam with the Cougars!