Basketball
Favorite athlete: Damian Lillard
Favorite team: Pittsburgh Steelers
Favorite memory competing in sports: District/state playoff run, game-winner in playoffs vs Upper Dublin last year, and just going to war every week with my longtime teammates.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: I can’t pick one, we have the funniest locker room in the SOL. There’s something new every day.
Music on playlist: Gunna
Future plans: Study business in college.
Words to live by: Live with no regrets.
One goal before turning 30: Become a scratch golfer.
One thing people don’t know about me: I’m planning to try out for the baseball team this year. I haven’t played since 8th grade.
By GORDON GLANTZ
When Tyler Dandrea entered Central Bucks East High School, he made a difficult but important decision regarding his athletic career.
He was going to put his glove, bat and ball in mothballs. With all due respect to the national pastime, he saw a brighter future for himself on the hardwood with basketball.
“I knew, at the time, that I wanted to go 100 percent into basketball,” said Dandrea, who has since played AAU ball and in multiple summer leagues to hone his chosen craft.
So began a journey from junior varsity as a freshman to a swing player as sophomore to varsity starter the last two seasons on a state-caliber team.
After falling to West Chester Henderson in the District One Class 6A playoffs, coach Erik Henrysen’s Patriots are currently battling for seeding for the state field.
A year ago, the Patriots lost in the first round of states to Archbishop Wood.
Said Henrysen: “We have strung together a couple of good seasons in a row, and our goal is always to one-up the season before.”
Although he was voted as a tri-captain by his teammates, Dandrea doesn’t see the need to overtly state the importance of a strong finish.
“We have a ton of seniors on the team,” said Dandrea. “I think we all understand that we are trying to get as many wins as we can.
“Our goal is to go farther than last year, and we are basically at the same spot right now that we were last year. We want to win a state game. That’s our goal, and I know that we are all locked in to do that.”
A Great Kid
Dandrea may not feel the need to vocalize much to the teammates he has been playing with since middle school, if not longer, but Henrysen sees a born leader that others will follow.
“Tyler is a great kid,” said Henrysen. “He’s one of those ideal players to coach. He never has anything resembling an excuse. He’s always a team-first guy, and he has just been awesome to have as part of the program.”
Dandrea is a 6-2 swingman in a four-guard attack. According to his coach, he averaged in the ballpark of 9 points per game as a junior and is at 11 per game this season.
“He made a big jump as a junior,” said Henrysen. “We saw the progression. He turned himself into a varsity basketball player. He started for us. The rest is history. He has been a starter ever since.
“He is a guy who can take over a game at times. He can be real streaky and get going.”
An aspiring scratch golfer, the 6-2 Dandrea was 6-0 when he entered the hallways of CB East, and he has been able to round out his game and become a complete player.
“I’ve always been a shooter,” he said. “A lot of the small things, I think I’ve gotten better at as the years have gone on. I’ve put on a little bit of muscle, but it’s really a lot of the little things you need to do to be a good varsity player. That’s what I’ve learned over the years.
“Just attacking the rim, that’s what I really have gotten better at doing.”
Along the way, his teammates can’t help but be affected by Dandrea’s work ethic.
“He has the respect of his teammates,” said Henrysen. “They see the way he goes about doing his business. There is never an excuse or a complaint. He has worked through injuries when they’ve popped up. He’s been a warrior for us.”
Dandrea’s game has gotten him noticed by college programs, but he has decided to just play basketball informally at a larger school (South Carolina, Penn State, etc.).
“I love the sport,” said Dandrea. “It was a tough decision not to play in college. I think it’s what is best for me, and I’m still going to stay active and keep playing and find ways to hoop.”
Full Circle Effect
Dandrea carries himself as well off the court as he does on it, boasting a GPA above 3.9 with primarily AP and honors classes.
“He’s an awesome kid,” said Henrysen. “He’s not only a great teammate, but a great classmate. He is always kind of performing the same way that he does on the court as he does in the classroom, which is by leading by example and being an all-around great person.”
Thanking his parents (Tammy and Bo), coaches and teammates, Dandrea is giving serious thought to pulling his baseball gear out of storage and trying out for the baseball team as a senior.
“I’ll definitely be pretty rusty,” said Dandrea, who was a pitcher/outfielder before shifting gears to just basketball.
Before that, though, there is unfinished business to be done with his beloved teammates.
“Basically, all of us seniors have been together since 7th grade,” he said. “Some of us even played together all through grade school, and they are some of my best friends off the court. I just love working with them every day.
“We have clear chemistry on the court. We are always moving the ball, making the extra pass. We know each other’s games well by now.”
