Willie Tyler III has announced his commitment to the University of Louisville. Tyler previously played for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and entered the transfer portal after completing his fifth collegiate season.
This a reservation for rank, it's a marathon and a race
— Willie Tyler III (@TheWillieTyler) April 24, 2023
Only the real can relate and you ain't one if you can't
❤️ pic.twitter.com/aPfJb6q2lN
Willie Tyler is a former three-star recruit and the No. 10 overall player in the state of Wisconsin for the Class of 2019. Coming out of high school, the 6-foot-7, 330-pound lineman did not receive much attention from Division I programs, forcing him to commit to Garden City Junior College.
A former high school dual-sport athlete, Tyler spent time on the football field and the basketball court. But, football quickly emerged as the path forward with an offer from Garden City Junior College. He originally committed to Garden City as a defensive lineman, but once the coaches wanted him to transition to the offensive line, he wanted to leave.
He left Kansas to return to his home state of Wisconsin for a short period of time, and then Iowa Western Community College came calling. An offer from the Reivers got him excited to play football again. And that began the slow, meteoric rise into a Division I-caliber offensive lineman.
His former coach at Iowa Western had this to say about Tyler:
"“Sometimes, I think offensive linemen take a little while to develop,” Iowa Western offensive line coach Donnie Woods told the Racine Journal Times. “He’s kind of a perfect case of that where a big, super-athletic kid comes in and just spends a year or year and a half focusing on football. And the next thing you know, they’re a highly-touted kid coming out of the junior college ranks.”"
Rising out of the junior college ranks, Tyler accepted an offer to play Division I football at the University of Texas. But, his time in Austin did not go as planned. He did not see the field much as a Longhorn, which motivated him to transfer to Louisiana-Monroe. He started nine games at left tackle for the Warhawks.
But, then he decided to transfer again to Rutgers University, where he would finish his undergraduate availability. As a Scarlet Knight, Tyler was an integral part of their offense. He played in eleven games and started nine of them.
Now, he comes to the University of Louisville as a graduate transfer and will help bolster an offensive line that lost a couple of key players, Adonis Boone, Caleb Chandler, and Trevor Reid. It will be exciting to watch Willie Tyler suit up in Cardinal Red this upcoming season to protect QB1.