Tyler Relph, a sharp-shooting 6-0, 165 pound point guard from McQuaid Jesuit H.S. in Rochester, N.Y., ended his recruitment on Sunday by committing to West Virginia University.
Relph had knocked his list down to West Virginia, Rhode Island and Clemson this fall. He took his only official visit to WVU this past weekend from Sept. 12-14, and canceled a trip to Rhode Island this upcoming weekend (Sept. 20-22). He had previously taken unofficial trips to both Clemson and URI.
"I really liked all of the coaches there, not just Coach Beilein, but Coach Jones, Coach Neubauer and Coach Brown," Relph said. "The players were great, just hanging out and talking with them, and I just felt right at that school."
Rivalshoops.com has had the opportunity to evaluate Relph many times over the past several months with his high school squad and his spring/summer traveling team.
He is truly one of the top shooters in the country if given the space to operate or presented with an open look. He's also an adequate ball handler and point guard who can get a team into its offensive sets, yet he's not explosively quick off the dribble or particularly athletic.
Relph feels that West Virginia will be a good opportunity for him to showcase his strengths.
"They said that they are low in the point guard position, they really don't have anyone besides [freshman] Jamon [Collins]," he said. "I feel that I fit in well, because I can play both the one and two -- wherever they want me to play so they can win games. But they talked about me mostly playing the point."
Relph is from upstate New York, and ironically, Beilein cut his teeth for many years not too far from Rochester at Canisius College in Buffalo before moving onto Richmond and now West Virginia.
"I just felt comfortable with him -- talking with him, hanging out with him," Relph. "It probably had a little bit to with it, because he knows where I'm from."
Relph averaged 21 points, four rebounds, six assists and two steals per game for Joe Marchese's Western New York power.
This past spring and summer, he primarily played with Mickey Walker's Donyell Marshall Foundation program. He attended the adidas Big Time Tournament in July with DMF, and then played at the AAU Nationals in Florida with the Rochester Area Players (RAP) at the end of the month.
Relph is expected to sign a national letter of intent with the Mountaineers in November. He is the second player to commit to West Virginia in the past week -- the other being Florida forward Franklin Young.