Tyler Ulis (born January 5, 1996) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is currently an assistant coach at the University of Arkansas. He played college basketball at the University of Kentucky. In 2015, he led his team in assists, made the 2015 SEC All-Freshman Team, and led the 2014–15 Kentucky team that won its first 38 games before losing to Wisconsin in the final four of the 2015 NCAA tournament. As a sophomore, Ulis was a Consensus first-team All-American and earned the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and SEC Defensive Player of the Year recognition.
He played for Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights, Illinois. He was selected to play in both the 2014 McDonald's All-American Game and the 2014 Jordan Brand Classic. As a high school junior, he was a first team All-state selection, but he was overlooked by most top scouts until after his junior year of high school due to his height.
Ulis was born in Southfield, Michigan (a Detroit suburb), and lived in Lima, Ohio, with his mother and younger brother, Ahron. He ran track as a youth, competing in the 800 meters and 1500 meters. He trained for basketball with his cousin and 2009 Big Ten Conference Defensive Player of the Year Travis Walton. Another of his cousins is Shareese Ulis, point guard for Cincinnati Lady Bearcats, who had been a two-time Toledo Blade Player of the Year. During his time in middle school, Ulis became friends with future Phoenix Suns teammate Devin Booker.
For high school, Ulis moved to Matteson, Illinois, where he lived with his father, James. In Ohio, he had been used to winning a high percentage of his games. When he arrived at Marian Catholic, he started his first game as a freshman against future Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball starting guard Tracy Abrams. He did not initially enjoy team success. As a freshman, he was 5 feet 3 inches (1.60 m) tall and was being recruited by opposing high schools. He reached 5 feet 8 inches (1.73 m) by late in his sophomore year and began being recruited by college basketball teams. By the beginning of his junior season, Marian Catholic was regarded as a serious contender thanks to Ulis.
Because of his height, Ulis was overlooked until well into the recruiting process for top basketball schools. He was not highly recruited until his 2013–14 senior year of high school. Among schools regarded as high-major programs, only Iowa and DePaul made him offers during his junior year. His other offers were from Dayton, Colorado State, Loyola, Northern Illinois and Oregon State. During his junior season, his stock soared and Marian Catholic started winning. In the March 2013 Illinois High School Association Class 4A sectional round, Marian Catholic vied against Bloom High School and then played Edwardsville High School in the supersectional round. Although Marian lost to a much taller Edwardsville team, it established a school record for wins with a 29–4 record and it won its IHSA sectional for the first time. Ulis finished fourth in the Illinois Mr. Basketball balloting behind Jabari Parker, Jahlil Okafor and Malcolm Hill. He was a first team All-state selection by the Chicago Tribune along with Parker, Okafor, Cliff Alexander and Jalen Brunson.
By August 8, 2013, when he was ranked as the 38th-best prospect in the national class of 2014 and its eighth-best point guard by ESPN, he had several offers and named Iowa, Kentucky (although he did not have an offer from them at the time), Michigan State and USC as his finalists (eliminating DePaul, Florida State, Northwestern and Purdue). Walton, Tyler's cousin, had played for Michigan State. He received an official offer from Kentucky on August 16. In early September, Ulis announced that he would not take an official visit to USC and had eliminated them from consideration. On September 13, Ulis committed to Kentucky. Subsequently, Tyus Jones canceled his September 27–29 official visit to Kentucky.
Ulis entered his senior season as one of the five favorites to win Illinois Mr. Basketball (along with Okafor, Alexander, Brunson and Keita Bates-Diop). On December 7, 2013, at the UIC Pavilion in the Chicago Elite Classic, Ulis and Marion suffered one of their only two regular season losses to USC-bound guard Jordan McLaughlin and Etiwanda High School, which was ranked number 6 nationally by USA Today. Ulis had 30 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds. The January 25, 2014, matchup against junior Brunson and Stevenson High School was widely anticipated in the local press as the matchup of the two best point guards in the state. Stevenson won as Brunson had 32 points on 9-for-15 field goal shooting and an 11-for-14 free throw performance. Ulis had 23 points and 9 assists, including 18 points and 3 assists in the final eight minutes, but was only 5-for-20 from the field for the game. Ulis posted a career-high 42 points on February 22 against Lake Forest High School to go along with 6 steals, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.
During his senior year, Marian was the number 1 seed in the Thornton sectional of the IHSA Class 4A tournament. On March 11, Ulis had 40 points to lead Marian past Bloom High School 66–45. In the game, which was a rematch from the prior year, he made his first six shots, all three-pointers. On March 18, Marian lost its supersectional rematch against Edwardsville in overtime, again falling one game short of reaching the final four in Peoria, Illinois and finishing with a 28–3 record. In the game, Ulis, who had 23 points and 4 assists, tied the score with 21 seconds in regulation and with 50 seconds left in overtime. In the April 18 Jordan Brand Classic, Ulis posted 9 points and 9 assists.
He was selected to the 2014 McDonald's All-American Game on January 29 (along with fellow Chicagoans Okafor and Alexander as well as along with fellow Kentucky commits Karl-Anthony Towns, Trey Lyles and Devin Booker). On March 10 he was one of 26 players selected for the April 18, 2014 Jordan Brand Classic again along with fellow Chicagoans Okafor and Alexander as well as along with fellow Kentucky commits Towns, Lyles and Booker. He was named Associated Press Class 4A 1st team all-state with Alexander, Brunson, Okafor and Sean O'Mara. Ulis finished third to Okafor and Alexander in the Illinois Mr. Basketball voting. He was the runner-up in both the skills competition and the three-point contest at the McDonald's All-American Game. He was a 2014 USA Today third-team All-USA Boys Basketball Team selection.
The decision by Andrew Harrison and Aaron Harrison on whether to enter the 2014 NBA draft would be the determining factor on whether Ulis became an immediate starter or not. Many thought Andrew would be Calipari's seventh consecutive point guard to declare for the NBA draft after his freshman season, but that Ulis would likely last much longer at Kentucky. On April 25, the Harrisons announced that they would be returning to Kentucky.
During the offseason, Ulis wore a walking boot on his right foot following a pick-up game injury for precautionary reasons. Ulis was also named to the 36-man 2014–15 Bob Cousy Award preseason watchlist and the Wayman Tisdale Award watchlist. Ulis quickly earned a reputation as a difference maker whose contributions may not be obvious in the statistics. On December 10, he was sidelined with an injury. Ulis posted a season-high 14 points on December 27 against Louisville in the Kentucky–Louisville rivalry game known as the Battle For The Bluegrass, earning the MVP of the game from the Bluegrass Sports Commission. On December 29, his effort was recognized with an SEC Freshman of the Week honor. Ulis did not start in any his 37 games played as a freshman, but averaged 23.8 minutes played. Following the season, he was named to the 8-man 2015 SEC All-Freshman Team. Kentucky went undefeated in its first 38 games before losing to Wisconsin in the Final Four of the 2015 NCAA men's Division I basketball tournament. Ulis led the team in assists per game.