Tyler Joseph Kolek (born March 27, 2001) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

player for the

Marquette Golden Eagles The Marquette Golden Eagles, formerly known as the Marquette Warriors, Blue and Gold, Gold, Hilltoppers, and Golden Avalanche (football only), are the athletic teams representing Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. They ...

of the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and M ...

. He previously played for the

George Mason Patriots The George Mason Patriots are the intercollegiate athletic teams representing George Mason University (GMU), located in Fairfax, Virginia. The Patriots compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as members of th ...

Early life and high school career

Kolek grew up in

Cumberland, Rhode Island Cumberland is the northeasternmost town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States, first settled in 1635 and incorporated in 1746. The population was 36,405 at the 2020 census, making it the seventh-largest municipality and the largest t ...

and initially attended Cumberland High School. He transferred to St. George's School prior to the start of his junior year. Kolek was named the Rhode Island Gatorade Boys Basketball Player of the Year as a junior after averaging 18.6 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 2.5 steals per game. He committed to playing college basketball for

George Mason George Mason (October 7, 1792) was an American planter, politician, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, one of the three delegates present who refused to sign the Constitution. His writings, including s ...

over offers from Elon,

Northeastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

, Holy Cross, and

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

College career

Kolek began his college career at

. He was named the

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

Rookie of the Year as a freshman after averaging 10.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game. Following the end of the season, Kolek entered the NCAA transfer portal. Kolek ultimately transferred to Marquette. He averaged 6.7 points per game and led the

with 5.9 assists per game in his first season with the Golden Eagles. Kolek was named the

Big East Player of the Year The Big East Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year award is given to the men's basketball player in the Big East Conference voted as the top performer by the conference coaches. It was first awarded at the end of the league's inaugural sea ...

and first team All-Big East as a junior. He was also named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2023 Big East tournament after averaging 18.7 points, seven rebounds, and five assists in the three games. Kolek averaged 12.9 points, 7.5 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.8 steals over 36 games on the season. Kolek was named the preseason Big East Player of the Year as well as to multiple preseason All-American teams entering his senior season.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 22 , , 18 , , 30.7 , , .399 , , .358 , , .794 , , 3.6 , , 2.3 , , 1.3 , , .1 , , 10.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;", Marquette , 32 , , 32 , , 29.3 , , .320 , , .281 , , .810 , , 3.7 , , 5.9 , , 1.4 , , .1 , , 6.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, style="text-align:left;", Marquette , 36 , , 36 , , 32.3 , , .471 , , .398 , , .802 , , 4.1 , , 7.5 , , 1.8 , , .1 , , 12.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 90 , , 86 , , 30.8 , , .409 , , .345 , , .802 , , 3.9 , , 5.6 , , 1.5 , , .1 , , 10.2

Personal life

Kolek's father, Kevin Kolek, a retired police officer, played college basketball at Southeastern Massachusetts University (now the

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (UMass Dartmouth or UMassD) is a public research university in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. It is the southernmost campus of the University of Massachusetts system. Formerly Southeastern Massachusetts Un ...

) and was named the

Little East Conference The Little East Conference (LEC) is an NCAA Division III intercollegiate athletic conference. The member institutions are located in all six states of New England. History Chronological timeline * 1986 - On April 28, 1986, the Little East Conf ...

Player of The Year twice. His older brother, Brandon, plays basketball at

Franklin Pierce University Franklin Pierce University is a private university in Rindge, New Hampshire. It was founded as Franklin Pierce College in 1962, combining a liberal arts foundation with coursework for professional development, professional preparation. The scho ...

References

External links

Marquette Golden Eagles bioGeorge Mason Patriots bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kolek, Tyler 2001 births Living people All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Rhode Island George Mason Patriots men's basketball players Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball players Point guards St. George's School (Rhode Island) alumni