Tulsa offered Garden City guard Tahlik Chavez on March 13. As a true freshman out of Arlington (TX) Lake Ridge, he averaged 20.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game this season. Chavez shot 44.4 percent from three-point range.
On March 15, I asked Chavez about Tulsa.
"Tulsa is a great spot! Have a lot of connections with Coach Haith due to him coaching Phil Pressey at Missouri and Phil is like a big brother to me," he said. "As of right now, schools I’m strongly considering are Tulsa, Weber State, ETSU, Arkansas St and Vermont. But nothing is set in stone."
Chavez originally committed to Cal-Riverside as a high school senior and explained how he ended up going the JUCO route as a qualifier.
"I had committed to UC Riverside in August before my senior year, and then October came and the assistant coach called me and told me something happened with scholarships and that they no longer have a scholarship for me, and then two weeks later we found out that they just gave my scholarship to a big man from overseas," he explained. "So by that time, all the other Division 1 schools that were interested already had their players committed, so I was stuck with going D2, NAIA or the Juco route."
I also asked Chavez about his relationship with the Pressey family.
"A photographer I knew from AAU that knew Phil Pressey was having a camp had told Phil that he should invite me to it," he said. "So he dm’d me on Instagram inviting me to the camp, and I ended up going and he loved my game and everything, and he was teaching me little things throughout the camp as well as his dad Paul, and after he asked if I wanted to start coming to workout with him and things like that before my senior year started, so we just grew a relationship through that and now he’s like a brother to me.
"This past summer before I went to college, I stayed over his house for like two weeks just waking up every morning at 5 am and working out and growing myself as a player and a person. He has taught me a lot about the game and life in general."
Chavez has proven to be a deadly outside shooter and can play either guard position.
"My ability to shoot the ball at a high level and score and also create for my teammates," he said when asked about his strengths. "The area where I need most improvement at is my strength, and I'm working on that a lot this off-season."
The day after Tulsa offered Chavez, Iona hired Rick Pitino as its new head coach. Two days after I spoke to Chavez, Pitino offered Chavez on March 17. I was told on March 21 that Chavez is headed to Iona.
I haven't seen anything official from Chavez though.
On March 15, I asked Chavez about Tulsa.
"Tulsa is a great spot! Have a lot of connections with Coach Haith due to him coaching Phil Pressey at Missouri and Phil is like a big brother to me," he said. "As of right now, schools I’m strongly considering are Tulsa, Weber State, ETSU, Arkansas St and Vermont. But nothing is set in stone."
Chavez originally committed to Cal-Riverside as a high school senior and explained how he ended up going the JUCO route as a qualifier.
"I had committed to UC Riverside in August before my senior year, and then October came and the assistant coach called me and told me something happened with scholarships and that they no longer have a scholarship for me, and then two weeks later we found out that they just gave my scholarship to a big man from overseas," he explained. "So by that time, all the other Division 1 schools that were interested already had their players committed, so I was stuck with going D2, NAIA or the Juco route."
I also asked Chavez about his relationship with the Pressey family.
"A photographer I knew from AAU that knew Phil Pressey was having a camp had told Phil that he should invite me to it," he said. "So he dm’d me on Instagram inviting me to the camp, and I ended up going and he loved my game and everything, and he was teaching me little things throughout the camp as well as his dad Paul, and after he asked if I wanted to start coming to workout with him and things like that before my senior year started, so we just grew a relationship through that and now he’s like a brother to me.
"This past summer before I went to college, I stayed over his house for like two weeks just waking up every morning at 5 am and working out and growing myself as a player and a person. He has taught me a lot about the game and life in general."
Chavez has proven to be a deadly outside shooter and can play either guard position.
"My ability to shoot the ball at a high level and score and also create for my teammates," he said when asked about his strengths. "The area where I need most improvement at is my strength, and I'm working on that a lot this off-season."
The day after Tulsa offered Chavez, Iona hired Rick Pitino as its new head coach. Two days after I spoke to Chavez, Pitino offered Chavez on March 17. I was told on March 21 that Chavez is headed to Iona.
I haven't seen anything official from Chavez though.
