Lytles a big boost for Lions

     A good recruiting class for the Bryan College men’s basketball team jumped to great-class status just before school started.
     Brothers Mike and Charlie Lytle from Tampa, Fla., give Lions coach Don Rekoske two legitimate NCAA Division I-caliber players to go with seven previous recruits for the 15-man varsity roster. 
     Mike Lytle is a 6-foot-7, 240-pound guard who has one season of eligibility remaining. He played two years at Cloud County (Kan.) Community College and signed with Division I member Youngstown State but didn’t have all the right classes to get through the NCAA Clearinghouse despite a 3.0 grade point average, according to Rekoske. He averaged 11 points, seven rebounds and six assists a game as a Cloud County sophomore.
     He averaged nine points, six rebounds and five assists a game last year for West Georgia in Division II but “just didn’t have a good experience,” Rekoske said.
     “They played him inside, and he wants to play on the perimeter. He’ll play the 1, 2 or 3 for us,” the Lions coach said. “He’s going to be a very good player for us. And when he signed, he asked if we would be interested in his brother.”
     That was easy to answer.
     Charlie Lytle is 6-8 and averaged 18 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots a game as a senior at Largo High, a Florida Class 5A school that was ranked No. 1 much of his junior season and went 48-9 his last two years. He scored more than 1,200 points and set the school record for blocks.
     “He was first-team All-Sun Coast, which is like a six-county area,” Rekoske said, “and he got six Division I scholarship offers. Mercer and Appalachian State were among the teams that wanted him. The Largo coach said he was genuinely a midmajor prospect, maybe higher.”
     The Lytles join a group of recruits that already included Roane State transfer Cody Christopher, a 6-6 off guard or forward.
     “Cody will be one of the most athletic players on our team,” Rekoske said. “He averaged like 11 points and seven rebounds at Roane State but had a broken wrist.”
     The Lions slipped to 6-24 last season but have three transfers and four freshmen “who will play a lot right away,” Rekoske said. “We’ve revamped our team and I’m excited. This could be a pretty good group.”