Prospect Spotlight: Tanner Yeryar (2017)
The southern part of the state is typically full of prospects that can go under-the-radar for quite a while. With so few college programs south of Indianapolis, it makes it a little more likely to get as much exposure early…
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Continue ReadingThe southern part of the state is typically full of prospects that can go under-the-radar for quite a while. With so few college programs south of Indianapolis, it makes it a little more likely to get as much exposure early on. One player that deserves another look is Shakamak guard Tanner Yeryar.
A little over a year ago, Tanner was still a 5’9 guard who had plenty of offense but no true position. His lack of height really hindered how you look at him as a potential college player. Now, though, he’s grown to 6’0 and is even better offensively and his ball handling has improved enough that he could be one of the biggest steals in the class.
“All summer I just continued to work on my game,” Tanner said. “I thank god that I got the growth spurt to help me compete a little better and help me be more soft around the rim and finish layups where I was shorter I would always get stuffed but now that I’m a little taller and a little lengthy.”
Tanner is a really good jump shooter who can knock down shots from distance but that growth spurt has really helped because it has brought with it some length and now he’s much better off the bounce, getting into the paint and making a play. He’s shown a full range of shots with a floater, a mid-range pull-up, and finishing long at the rim.
“Definitely ball handling and shooting and on the defensive side,” Yeryar said of his game. “Mainly shooting. I get in because my body was developing and I was told all my life that as your body develops the stronger you will get. I started to develop a more overhead shot where it was harder for defenses to block my jump shot from outside. I just really worked on my jump shot and ball handling because I knew as a taller guard, they mainly look for shorter guards to be ball handlers and I thought I would have a 1-2 punch if I had the ball handling skills and a little jumper.”
To this point, Yeryar is only getting a few looks with Alabama A&M and Lincoln Trail showing interest. However, he’s got to add in some strength on his frame over the next year as he’s pretty thin but after that, he could be a player that fits in well with most DIII and NAIA programs. He’s got more than enough offense and the chance to get a lot better, quickly. As for what Tanner wants in a college, he’s just wanting to feel apart of something.
“Just a good solid family,” Tanner said of a potential college fit. “I want to be taken in just like I feel like I been there for five years. I just want to be taken in and continue to play the game that I love.”