By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Over the next several weeks, we'll be taking a dive into getting to know the members of the 2023-24 Tennessee Tech men's basketball team.
Head coach John Pelphrey's roster will feature 17 student-athletes for the second straight year, with 10 newcomers and seven faces already familiar to Golden Eagle fans. Back for the Tech squad in 2023-24 are Diante Wood, Grant Slatten, Grant Strong, Erik Oliver, Jayvis Harvey, Bogdan Zimonjic, and Jerome Beya.
New to the crew for 2023-24 campaign are sophomore guard Brandon Brown (Bristol, Tenn. / Lees-McRae), sophomore guard Nick Choate (Livingston, Tenn. / Livingston Academy), sophomore center David Craig (Johannesburg, South Africa / Mercer), sophomore guard Josiah Davis (Kitchener, Ontario / West Virginia), junior guard David Early (Logan, W.Va. / Marshall), sophomore forward Daniel Egbuniwe (Memphis, Tenn. / Little Rock), junior forward Rodney Johnson Jr. (Bryan, Texas / Weatherford College), freshman guard Kyle Layton (Birmingham, Ala. / Mountain Brook HS), freshman forward Rylee Samons (Pikeville, Ky. / Pikeville HS), and junior guard DeSean Woods (Lexington, Ky. / Southern U.).
Today we'll take a close look at newcomer Rylee Samons, a freshman from Pikeville High School in Pikeville, Ky.
#15 Rylee Samons | Forward | 6-7 | 195 | Fr. | Pikeville, Ky./Pikeville HS
The first commitment of this year's Tech class, Samons was a star at the high school level in Eastern Kentucky, helping lead Pikeville High School to three straight district championships, two Kentucky All "A" Region titles, an All "A" State crown, and a Region 15 championship.
The Pikeville, Ky. native earned Louisville Courier-Journal All-State Second Team honors and Appalachian Newspapers Inc. All-Mountain First Team accolades. Samons picked up a bevy of other awards as well, including KABC Region 15 Player of the Year, Appalachian Newspapers Inc. All-Mountain Player of the Year, Retaliation Mountain Sports Boys Player of the Year, and the 2022 All "A" State Championship MVP honor. He was also named the Region 15 Mr. Basketball candidate.
During his career, he scored 2,351 points, hauled in 668 rebounds, and drained more than 331 triples. Despite missing part of the 2020-21 campaign due to injury, he dropped 50 points in a contest as a sophomore. As a senior, he broke the school record for 3-pointers in a game, sinking 11 attempts from beyond the arc.
In his final campaign with Pikeville, Samons averaged 22.6 points and six rebounds per game while representing one of the top 3-point shooters in the state. Draining 89 shots from downtown, he shot 43.6 percent. During his junior campaign, the incoming Tech rookie shot 46 percent from deep while averaging 15.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.
Fans are encouraged to check back in the coming weeks as we continue our dive into the 2023-24 roster and take a look at the newest members of the Golden Eagles.
Photo by TTU Men's Basketball
