Student Profile: Tyus Battle

STUDENT PROFILE

TYUS BATTLE ’20 On Basketball and Technology

BY: JEFF RUBIN ’95 G’98

Ifirst met Tyus Battle ’20 when he was being recruited to Syracuse, and then-assistant basketball coach Mike Hopkins (now head coach at University of Washington) brought him into my office in Hinds Hall. Prior to the visit, Hopkins mentioned that Tyus was interested in technology and thought that the iSchool might be a good fit for him. Tyus visited with his father, and we talked about the school, the opportunities here, potential career paths in technology, and I had the opportunity to show him how I bring some of that together at SIDEARM sports and in the classroom.

Not too much later, I saw that he committed to Syracuse, and in the fall, he was in my IST 195 (Introduction to Information Technology) class. Tyus rarely missed a class (except when games had him traveling), and unlike most students he always sat in the first or second row. Needless to say, Tyus was engaged and it was truly a pleasure having him in class.

Being a student athlete is a challenge, and I don’t think a lot of people understand what is asked and expected of them. Student athletes don’t necessarily ask for the spotlight, but the spotlight (and sometimes a microscope) is given to them. Being a student athlete is more than just the games and the practices, it’s the community outreach that they do, the travel, getting back from a game at 2:00 a.m. and then being there in class a few hours later at 8:30 a.m. That’s a lot to ask of anybody and I have always had the utmost respect for the ones like Tyus that do it without complaining.

I give Tyus, and all student athletes, a lot of credit for being able to find that balance—being able to have the success he does on the court and also be present and engaged in the classroom. Tyus defines a student athlete.

When Tyus made the decision last summer to remove his name from consideration for the NBA draft and come back to Syracuse*, I was happy for him and glad to have him back on campus for another year. Honestly, whatever decision he made I would have been happy for him. Tyus is a great advocate for Syracuse University. He’s a leader on the court, he’s down to earth and understands the importance of finding that balance between what he wants to do in his *Editor’s Note: Following the close of the 2019 college basketball season, and after this interview, Tyus Battle announced that he was withdrawing from college play and the SU team to enter the National Basketball Association draft. He plans to continue his studies at Syracuse University and is on track to graduate in 2020 with a degree in information management and technology from the SU School of Information Studies.

profession, basketball, but also working to complete his degree at Syracuse University.

I had an opportunity to speak with Tyus in my office recently, and our interview is below. It has been lightly edited for length and clarity. JEFF:How and when did you become interested in technology? TYUS: It’s funny — when I was really young, I was a huge video game guy. I loved playing video games. So I told myself, as a second plan, I wanted to be a video game creator. At the time I also liked to draw and make things as well, but video games were my first introduction to technology. I was a huge Call of Duty fan growing up, and still am, actually. I play Fortnite a little bit, too. I’m pretty good. The whole team is kind of addicted, too, everyone gets addicted to it! But Call of Duty is my favorite, I just love it. JEFF: You see professional athletes, like Steph Curry and Lebron James, investing in tech and startups. Is that something you could ever see yourself wanting to get involved in? TYUS: Oh yeah, definitely. Everything is technology-based now. Look at sports, there’s statistics, at practice we wear these Zephyr vests to track our heart rate, measure how much energy we’re expending out on the floor. Everything is tracked on this system, it’s amazing. JEFF:How have you used this technology to help you be more competitive on the court? TYUS: They’re not just tracking rebounds, like offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, they’re tracking where you’re getting those rebounds from, how you’re positioning yourself to get them, and so on. You can dive so deep into your stats, look through the analytics, all while you’re re-watching the film from the game. I watch film before every game. I actually watch it with my dad, both of us together on FaceTime, clips of myself—the good and the bad plays—and clips of the team as a whole. And then as a team, we watch film of the team we’re going to be playing. It helps me see the mistakes I’m making and correct them. I’m much more of a visual learner, so when I see the good plays, it helps me to reinforce those movements.

JEFF:People don’t always see the commitment that student athletes make. As a team veteran, as a leader, what advice do you have for incoming students who are learning to balance academics while being a Division I athlete? TYUS: First off, it’s not easy. It’s something that I started to learn in high school, where they really focused on and enforced the academics. I would say first that you really have to stay organized - write down everything so that you don’t forget it. And second, you need to stay focused. College can get really distracting at times, especially when you’re a student athlete, so you have to find that balance of priorities, which for me is school and basketball. In season when we travel so much, staying in contact with your professors and just getting your work done is key. JEFF: You’re pretty active on social media, and you have a decent following on Twitter and Instagram, do you feel that social presence has benefitted you? What have the downsides been? TYUS: Social media allows people to get to know you outside of just the sport—to get to know a little bit more about your personal life, what you like to do, other things that you’re interested in. And I think a lot of people forget about that because they just see you on the basketball court. Social media is what you make out of it. If you portray yourself as a negative person and put negative stuff out there, then that’s what the public is going to think about you. There’s positives and negatives for sure. Throughout the season, I try to stay off of Twitter because I like to stay focused. On Twitter, there’s a lot of ways people can try and get in contact with you. The Syracuse fan base is so amazing and cares so much about basketball, but people like to voice their opinions, both positive and negative, so I just try and control that as much as possible. JEFF: On your phone, what are the apps that get the most usage? TYUS: Snapchat for sure, I’m on Snap a lot. It’s more private, you don’t have to put your whole life out to the public. On Instagram, I like to scroll through my feed, look at basketball stuff, shoes. If people see me play, they know that the shoes I wear are pretty ‘out there.’ I like to see what the new shoes are that are coming out and then get them as fast as possible. I have a good amount of games on my phone, I’m not going to lie! To pass time, I downloaded this game called Brawl Stars, a little fighting game; I’ve been enjoying it so far. I have a ton of apps that track things — how I’m eating, my food and diet intake. I’ve had that since high school. Interviewer Jeff Rubin ’95 G’98 is Associate Professor of Practice at the iSchool, and founder and CEO of SIDEARM Sports, a digital engagement platform for college athletics. Jeff Rubin, right, Associate Professor of Practice, looks at the range of new apps Tyus Battle, an IM&T student, has installed on his phone.