7-foot junior from Indiana keeping his options open

Teenage boys often go through growth spurts. But for Tyler Zeller, it was more like an explosion.

Though the Washington, Ind., native long has been respected for his high-energy style of basketball, Zeller didn't generate much attention until late in his freshman year. When he shot up nearly 10 inches in just a few months, he was on his way to becoming one of the country's most recruited prep basketball players.

"You tend to get noticed when you do that," said the Indiana Elite's Mark Adams, who is Zeller's AAU coach. "Tyler has always been a fundamentally solid player, but growing those extra 10 inches just made him even better."

Zeller, who logged 22 points and seven rebounds to lead his team to a 90-67 victory over the Bay Area Hoosiers at Rancho High on Wednesday, is one of the few top-tier juniors in the adidas Super 64 tournament to remain uncommitted to an NCAA program. Several teams are battling to obtain his services, including Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Notre Dame, Purdue and Tennessee.

But Zeller, known for his intelligence on and off the court, says he won't commit until he works with his family to give the decision consideration.

"I want to play somewhere where I get along with the other players," said Zeller, whose brother Luke is a forward/center at Notre Dame. "Somewhere with good coaches. I hope to narrow it down by the start of the school year."

Adams said someone will be lucky to acquire his top player.

"When you've got a 7-foot kid who runs the floor like him, he's going to be effective wherever he goes," the coach said. "His ability to get up and down the court is his major strength."

Zeller, who also is a successful varsity tennis player, repeatedly demonstrated his speed Wednesday by beating guards up and down the floor. Despite his success, he said he's more focused on making the best of each learning opportunity than he is on the recruiting process.

"To play against this kind of competition, you learn things you don't learn at home," said Zeller, who averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 67.9 percent as a junior at Washington High School last year. "I've just been trying to work out and grow into my body."

Zeller scored 21 points to help the Indiana Elite defeat the Michigan Mustangs in Wednesday's late game. His team advanced to the upper-bracket quarterfinals, where it will play KC Pump N Run at Rancho today at 9 a.m.