Tyzhaun Claude traveled a long road before ending up in Atlanta.
A 6-foot-8, 236-pound forward in his first season with Georgia Tech, Claude will be suiting up for his fifth team in six seasons when he takes the court for the Yellow Jackets. The latest chapter in Claude’s story promises to be the most challenging after collegiate stops in the Southern and Ohio Valley conferences.
“He is definitely ready to compete,” said Jamaal Croom, his high school coach. “His biggest thing is he knows coming into (the ACC) there are no nights off. You’re going to have to play hard every night. He understands that and he knows, as far as the mental aspect of it, where he has to go to play on that level. I’m excited to see it.”
Claude was virtually an unrecruited prospect coming out of high school. After his junior season at Goldsboro High (N.C.) he spent one season at Moravian Prep (N.C.).
In November 2018, Claude signed with Morehead State. He would play in 30 games there as a freshman in 2019-20, led the team in shooting (60%) and rebounding (6.4 per game) and scored 9.5 points per contest. But an injury forced Claude to miss all of the 2020-21 campaign and he would then play just nine times in 2021-22.
Claude transferred to Western Carolina where he returned to form. He started 28 of 31 games and nearly averaged a double-double (15.4 points and 8.6 rebounds) while shooting a team-best 52.3% and swatting a team-high 28 blocks. He finished the season with 11 double-doubles.
Tech will be demanding that sort of production this winter, production Croom said has always been waiting under the surface.
“He’s been the underdog all his life, so once he started to come into his own he just really embraced that hard work,” Croom said. “He outworked everybody on the floor when he played, whether that’s scoring, whether that’s rebounding.
“Players bloom in different times of their life. I think he really started to bloom the end of his junior year going into his senior year (of high school). His body started to fill out and his height and weight caught up to each other. Once he started to fill out, he got better.”
Croom said Claude spent much of June in Goldsboro, continuing to work on his game and his conditioning before returning to Atlanta to get acclimated to life as a Jacket. When the 2023-24 season begins, Croom said Tech fans can expect to see a player who gives his all each time on the court.
“He’s a high-energy player, I know that for sure,” Croom said. “He has a great motor. He just plays with a lot of passion and aggression.”
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