Tyler Ulis will keep smashing the myth he’s ‘too short’ all the way to the NBA

To hear Marcus Lee tell it, the legend of Tyler Ulis was born the first time he officially stepped on Kentucky’s campus. Lee was just beginning his freshman year in the fall of 2013 when Ulis arrived for a recruiting visit. He wasn’t the only special guest in Lexington that day. DeMarcus Cousins was there, too.

With Kentucky’s past, present and future all in the same gym, a pickup game quickly broke out. On one possession, Ulis darted into the lane and was bodied by the hulking Cousins. He called a foul Cousins refused to recognize, and the two started jawing. On one side was a 5’9 high schooler made of skin, bones and quick-twitch muscles. On the other: an NBA star at nearly 7 feet and 270 pounds.

“If he could stand up to DeMarcus, he could stand up to anyone,” Lee recalls.

John Calipari didn’t need to see the altercation to know he had found his next point guard. Calipari was at Peach Jam recruiting Chicago Meanstreets teammate Charles Matthews when he saw Ulis dominate his more highly touted peers Tyus Jones and Joel Berry II. Ulis was tired of schools telling him college stardom would be a long process for a player his size.

Calipari knew exactly what he wanted to hear: “Don’t come here if you want to be a four-year point guard.”

“I never thought I was,” Ulis told SB Nation with a smile.

It only took two years for Ulis to make Calipari’s vision a reality. Ulis had conquered every doubt by breaking John Wall’s school assist record, by being named SEC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year and by winning the Bob Cousy Award as the nation’s most outstanding point guard. It was time for Ulis to jump up a level, and that meant again hearing the same questions he’s heard his entire life.

Ulis measured at 5’9 and 149 pounds at the NBA Draft Combine. That would make him the fifth-lightest player the NBA has seen since 1950, and potentially the shortest first-round pick since Muggsy Bogues in 1987. Once again there’s a horde of people who believe he’s too small to be successful. Once again Ulis is gleefully awaiting the opportunity to prove them wrong.

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Eric Nawracaj was at the McDonald’s All-American Game the first time he met James Ulis. Nawracaj was a personal trainer watching a client and Ulis was in the market for exactly that as the father of a young ball player. His son was moving to suburban Chicago from Lima, Ohio for high school and he needed someone to push him.

Young Tyler didn’t hide his ambition. When Nawracaj asked him what he wanted to accomplish, Ulis told him he wanted to be a McDonald’s All-American. He was all of 5’2 at the time.

“‘I gotta get my mom that jersey,’” Nawracaj recalls him saying. “His vision was so strong. There were plenty of times when even I didn’t want to get up and that kid was calling me to get in the gym.”

James Ulis also sought out Mike Taylor, head coach at Marian Catholic High School. Tyler had already played in some area youth tournaments and his father wanted to know if his kid had a chance to start his freshman year on varsity.

“Within five minutes of watching him I had an answer for his dad,” Taylor told SB Nation. “There was no doubt he could compete at that level.”

By Ulis’ junior year, Marian Catholic was Illinois’ newest basketball power. The Spartans set a program record by going 29-4 and winning the school’s first ever sectional title. Simeon forward Jabari Parker was named the state’s Mr. Basketball, Whitney Young 7-footer Jahlil Okafor came in second and Ulis, now 5’8, finished fourth.

Ulis had played himself into D1 prospect, but he was still overlooked in many national recruiting rankings. That all changed the summer going into his senior year when he blew up on the grassroots circuit playing for Meanstreets.

Head coach Tai Streets had been around elite athletes his entire life. He caught touchdown passes at Michigan from Tom Brady and lined up alongside Jerry Rice and Terrell Owens with the 49ers. Even he was astounded at what Ulis was doing. By the time Ulis went off for 22 points and 17 rebounds against Tyus Jones in front of every coach in the country at Peach Jam, the secret was out.

“He was the best player on the court every time we stepped out,” Streets told SB Nation. “It was just one by one demolition.”

Kentucky offered a scholarship on the spot. Three weeks later, Ulis announced he had picked the Wildcats over Michigan State and Iowa.

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Guards with Ulis’ size are not supposed to play at Kentucky. He became just the sixth player shorter than 6’0 to suit up for the Wildcats since 1970. On a team full of supersized athletes like Karl-Anthony Towns, Willie Cauley-Stein and Trey Lyles, Ulis looked even more unusual. As Calipari amassed a roster as big as any in the NBA, Ulis was the only player in the rotation shorter than 6’5.

Platoon became the buzzword of the year in Lexington that season, and Ulis was a big reason why it worked. His coming out party happened against hated rival Louisville, when he popped off for 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor. The Wildcats were rolling and the talk of an undefeated season became very real.

Calipari promptly lost his top seven scorers to the NBA draft. Another great recruiting class was coming in, but there was no question this would be Ulis’ team to lead. He didn’t disappoint.

All Ulis did as a sophomore was become arguably the greatest point guard Calipari has ever coached. That’s no small feat considering all of the NBA talent on this list.

*Source: KenPom.com ^at Memphis

Ulis played nearly 89 percent of Kentucky’s available minutes, placing No. 30 in assist rate and No. 34 in offensive rating nationwide. After Calipari was ejected in the opening minute amid a hostile road environment at South Carolina, Ulis took control to finish with 27 points and 12 assists. After the game assistant coach Kenny Payne said “I never touched (the) offense. I didn’t have to.“

Kentucky claimed the SEC regular season crown and won the conference tournament when Ulis scored a career-high 30 points vs. Texas A&M in the championship game, but this wasn’t the same powerhouse Lexington had grown accustomed to seeing. With a lack of shooting on the wings and no dominant force on the inside, Kentucky was bounced by Indiana in the Sweet 16.

After the season Ulis said he sat down with Calipari and they both agreed it was time to enter the draft.

“Why are you different from everyone else at the combine?” a reporter asked Ulis at the draft combine.

“I’m shorter.”

From a very young age, Ulis was a goal-oriented person. He’s been questioned every step of the way. He was too small to play on varsity as a high school freshman. He was too small to be a McDonald’s All-American and play at Kentucky. Now he’s too small to play in the NBA.

“He’s been overcoming his size his whole life,” Streets said. “And he’s going to do it again.”

Those who know Ulis best don’t have any questions. They have seen the way he’s grown as a vocal leader. They’ve seen him fine tune his three-point shot and master weaving through the pick-and-roll. Most important, they’ve seen him think the game three steps ahead of anyone else. They all believe Ulis is ready for the league and he does, too.

“I always knew my time would come,” Ulis said.

Staying in school wasn’t going to make Ulis four inches taller or 30 pounds heavier. He has always triumphed over his size with quick feet and quicker hands, with razor sharp basketball IQ and with toughness fueled by years of doubt.

Go ahead and tell Tyler Ulis he can’t make this final step. He’s been invalidating the sentiment his entire life.