A year after following Chris Banchero, Jeremy Tyler, and Jet Chang’s game-by-game performance throughout the 2010-2011 season it has been exciting to see each of these young players take big strides forward over the past few weeks.

Chris Banchero

After sitting out the first two thirds of the ASEAN Basketball League schedule this year Banchero was finally allowed to suit up for the San Miguel Beermen four games ago. Around the same time the Beermen were able to add Nick Fazekas and Duke Crews to their lineup. With the addition of fresh talent the Beermen have won five straight games and jumped past their rivals the Air Asia Philippine Patriots to take sole possession of first place. Banchero has shown very little after not playing in an official game for close to sixteen months. After four games he is averaging 15.3 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game. He is shooting an outstanding 53% from the field. In his late outing against the Bangkok Cobras Banchero shot 11/15 from the field, scoring on an array of drives to the basket.

Jet Chang
After an up-and-down senior season at BYU-Hawaii Jet is focused on the next step in his basketball career. In a surprising decision Jet was invited to participate at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament held earlier in April. Players outside of Division I are rarely given the opportunity to showcase their talents at the PIT, no matter how dominant they have been during their collegiate career. Chang made the most of his opportunity averaging 13 points across the three games. Chang proved to scouts again that his speed and ability to score can hold up against any level of opponent. While Jet is still a distant longshot for the NBA, he has placed himself on the radar for the D-League, and maybe more importantly the CBA. Jet is positioned for a substantial payday if he decides to play in China. Whatever path Jet chooses to follow, he is exactly where he should want to be at this point in his career.

The video below was showcased on the NCAA's website a few weeks ago. 

Jeremy Tyler

After accumulating a number DNP-CDs during the first few months of the season and a short trip to the D-League Tyler stepped into the starting role for the Golden State Warriors for the last 23 games of the season. As his fellow bigs went down with injuries Tyler was given increased playing time and a bigger role in the offense. By the time the Warriors enter full-on tank mode Tyler was ready to play. For the month of April Tyler averaged 8.9 points and 5.9 rebounds in 24 minutes of action a game. He managed his fouls a little better as the season progressed, but still averaged 6.3 fouls per 48 minutes during the April timeframe. Perhaps the best news for Tyler though is that he has a lot of support from the passionate Warriors fan base. Forums on the Warriors fan sites are almost unanimously supportive of Tyler being the first big off the bench next season backing up Bogut and Lee. While it was by no means an easy or pretty journey for Tyler, he is now exactly where he wanted to be when he decided to leave high school three years ago.