Destined to be a Hawk
Grove goes from camp participant to starting forward at IUP
Tyler Grove had a date with destiny.
When he was 12 years old, Grove spent a couple weeks in Indiana. He stayed with his grandparents while his parents moved their family from Florida to Erie, and he attended one of IUP’s summer basketball camps.
Coach Joe Lombardi maintained a friendship with his grandfather, Royden Grove, who had occupied the office next door at Memorial Field House when he was IUP’s director of intramurals. Lombardi met his friend’s grandson on the first day of camp.
“I talked to Coach Lombardi because he was good friends with my grandfather,” Grove said, “and he jokingly offered me a scholarship in seventh grade. He said if I grew to be 6-4, he would offer me a scholarship. So, jokingly, I had the offer since I was in seventh grade.”
Grove grew to 6-foot-4 by his junior year in high school, but the offer from IUP’s coach – or any college coach – wasn’t set in stone.
“I knew I still had to earn it,” Grove said.
He did.
During his junior year, he attracted the attention of Erie County brethren and IUP players Armoni Foster and David Morris, who encouraged their coach to sign Grove.
As a 6-7 senior, Grove earned recognition as the county player of the year, made the all-state team and committed to IUP in March 2024. He started at forward last season as a freshman.
“I remember when I called and told Coach Lombardi I was coming to IUP,” he said. “It was definitely a full-circle moment. I remembered coming to camp and always looking up to the older guys that ran the camp.”
Grove recalled the early recruiting experience when he returned to IUP this week to help run the first of four summer camps at the field house. The second of four camps for players 7-16 is June 23-26 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. For information, visit the men’s basketball page at iupathletics.com.
“It was fun seeing all the kids, some familiar faces from last year. Some grew up a little bit,” Grove said. “It was non-stop all day. They have a lot of energy, but that’s good. It’s fun to see all the kids coming together and just enjoying basketball.”
Lombardi saw the same thing in Grove, who attended the camp for two summers and helped out last year as an incoming freshman.
“Six-four? I think I told him 6-6,” Lombardi said with a laugh. “The kid was a good player even at 12 so he stood out a little bit. And he always had a good smile. You could tell he had a love for the game back then. He was easy to connect with.”
When Lombardi arrived for the start of camp earlier this week, one of the first things he saw was Grove on the court, soaked in sweat, a half hour before the scheduled start.
“I walked in at 8:30 the other day and he was already drenched,” Lombardi said. “He’s committed, smart, focused, very disciplined, and he values it. He’s going to get better and better, but I don’t know how fast or at which pace. He makes strides every day.”
Grove was one of three freshmen to play significant minutes last season on a 14-16 team that featured no returning starters and six players in an eight-man rotation that were new to the program. He ranked third on the team in scoring at 11.1 points per game and rebounding at 4.3, scored in double figures in 17 of 30 games, posted a career high of 22 points and recorded one double-double. He also registered a perfect 4.0 in the classroom.
His offseason regimen includes work on perimeter shooting after he made only 40.5 percent overall and 30.1 percent from 3-point range.
“I’ve got to shoot the ball better,” he said. “That’s first and foremost because 30 percent is not going to cut it. Then, everything. I’ve got to talk, be a great teammate, and defensively I’ve got to improve a lot. I just need to find ways to help us win.”
Grove’s up-and-down season mirrored the team’s youth and inexperience. IUP finished below .500 for the first time since its second year under Lombardi, who enters his 20th season in the fall.
“We had a lot of ups and downs as a team, but I’m proud of how we fought every day,” Grove said. “We came into practice every day with a lot of energy. You would never know we were a .500 team the way we competed in practice and games. That says a lot about our group. It says a lot about the people we have in the program, not just the players. I’m just really looking forward to next year because with the character on this team we could be great.”
Grove expects to be a key part of the puzzle on a team that returns the top eight in its rotation and adds redshirt senior guard Dallis Dillard and highly touted 6-6 forward Baustista Roriguez, a native of Argentina who lost his freshman season due to an NCAA eligibility rule concerning international players.
Kymani Merraro, the first freshman to start at point guard under Lombardi, returns to lead the show after earning the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Division Rookie of the Year award. Merraro, from Toronto, worked the camp with his teammate and best friend. When he and Grove posed for a photo, the 5-9 Merraro stood on his toes to shave a little off the 10-inch gap.
“Tyler can be one the best scorers in the country,” Merraro said. “He’s 6-7, he can handle the ball, shoot from the perimeter. His biggest thing is defense. He’s going to work hard on everything – that’s Tyler – but mainly his defense. He could be a really good shot blocker as well because he’s athletic enough.”
Grove is putting in the work every day.
“I’m working just as hard, if not harder, than last season, but it’s all part of the process,” he said. “I love the process.”
When Grove started the process as a 12-year-old, IUP was mounting a dominant four-year run that included a 113-10 record, four straight conference championships and an appearance in the national semifinals.
“I remember meeting guys like Armoni, Dante (Lombardi), Dave, Shawndale (Jones), all those guys, and I always looked up to them,” Grove said. “That was a successful period in IUP basketball, and we’re trying to get back to that.”