Tyrone boys’ basketball coach Mike Harris summed everything up in one sentence Sunday night.
“Tyler would have rather won the game than scored his 1,000th point.”
A true statement about the 6-1, 175 pound guard who became the sixth person in the history of Tyrone basketball to surpass the 1,000-point plateau.
“Tyler is a natural born leader,” said Harris. “You see it in football, basketball and baseball. He has been a leader throughout his sports career. He is the type of a kid that wants to win so bad, he would score less or do whatever it takes to win.”
“Scoring 1,000 points is one of the biggest individual achievements in high school basketball,” said Mertiff. “Reaching it now is really special.”
One of the things Harris notes is Mertiff’s knowledge of the game.
“Sometimes Tyler sees things that the coaches don’t and gives us suggestions,” said Harris. “It isn’t a power struggle. He tells us what he sees and does what we ask of him.”
Many athletes who are “stars” turn into prima donnas. Harris says Mertiff is far from that.
“He always talks with his teammates on the floor and he never talks down to them,” Harris added. “He treats every teammate the same. He doesn’t act like he is better than anyone and he makes sacrifices to make his teammates better.”
If there is one thing you see out of Mertiff is that he gives the maximum effort for every minute he is on the court or field.
“Tyler has a mental toughness that allows him to give 110 percent on the floor,” said Harris. “He practices like he plays in games and that gives you the ability to turn it up and get to that next level. That kind of work ethic makes good players great.”
Fans of Tyrone athletics have had many opportunities to see Mertiff display his athletic prowess over the past four years. What many don’t get to see is Mertiff off the field.
He coaches YMCA basketball teams in the third and fourth grade leagues and is an honor student at Tyrone High School.
“The kids look up to him,” said John Hertzler, who coaches with Mertiff at the YMCA. “Most of the coaches are parents, but these kids are working with a star athlete. They listen to him because many of the kids go and watch him play and see that he knows what he is talking about.”
Hertzler is very impressed with the way Mertiff is around the kids.
“He knows more about most sports than many of the people coaching youth sports in town,” said Hertzler. “How many 17-year-olds give up their Friday nights to coach children. We had a game Sunday afternoon and he was there right before he had a big game on Sunday night. That tells you how special this kid is.”
Two kids who play for Hertzler and Mertiff are Denver and Charlie Burket from Alexandria. They made the trip to see Mertiff eclipse the millennium scoring mark.
“I love seeing the kids do well,” said Mertiff. “I’d like to see them do what I get to do at the varsity level. Everything I learned, I am trying to pass back to the kids.”
When asked if he would rather win a game playing or coaching, Mertiff said “coaching my YMCA team.”
“I love working with the kids. Off the court or on the court, what I try to do down at the YMCA with the kids I feel is better than any individual achievement that I have accomplished.”
By the way, the elementary team coached by Hertzler and Mertiff is undefeated.
Mertiff was quick to praise Eric Castorina and Dave Panasiti after reaching the milestone.
“Dave brought me up to the freshman team as a seventh grader and it made me a better player,” said Mertiff. “He taught me a lot of what I know about basketball. He took extra time to work with me and he helped make me a better player and teammate.
I knew Eric (Castorina) was good, but I learned what made him good as a freshman,” Mertiff said. “I saw how bad he wanted to win. He led our team to a District VI Championship and I wanted to step into his role when he graduated. I wanted his number, I wanted to step into his shoes and I want to match what he did and win a District title.”
Not only is Mertiff a standout on the basketball court, he set single season and career passing records at Tyrone this past football season. As a junior, Mertiff lettered in four sports, football, basketball, baseball and track.
Tyler plans to major in elementary education and hopes to coach after graduating college.
He is being recruited for both football and basketball.
There are many things about Tyler Mertiff that the Tyrone community doesn’t see. They don’t see the way he treats the kids in learning support classes. They don’t see how he works with the kids at the YMCA. For a 17-year-old kid, Tyler Mertiff is one special person and is a great role model for kids in our community.
