Cain to Enter Hall of Fame

Tyler Cain notched one of the best all-around seasons in USD history as a senior in 2009-10 and is now headed to the Henry Heider Coyote Sports Hall of Fame. 

Ten years after his great career as a Yote, Cain received a voicemail from Director of Athletics David Herbster wanting to reach out and connect when Cain was free. 

Cain was born in Rochester, Minnesota and attended John Marshall High School where he was a standout athlete in basketball. Coming into USD, Cain was a 6-8, 230-pound forward who was a double-double machine in high school averaging 17.6 points, 12.7 rebounds and 4.2 blocks per game as a senior. At the time he held three school records for most rebounds in a game (24), blocks in a career (188) and blocks in a season (106). 

He chose to play his college ball at the University of South Dakota which is a cool four-and half-hour drive from his hometown in Minnesota.

In just his first season at USD, he quickly established himself as one of the most dominate defenders not only in the NCC but the nation. He re-wrote the USD single season record book in terms of blocks, as he swatted away 64 in his freshman season. He averaged 2.1 blocks per game and was ranked 20th in the nation in blocks. He also averaged 6.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game as he was named the North Central Conference Freshman of the Year. After just one season, Cain already sat sixth on the USD career list with his 64 blocks. 

Cain took things up a notch in his second season setting a single season school-record with 118 blocks. He tied with Tim Hatchett for USD’s career mark of blocked shots in just TWO seasons as a Coyote. He finished his sophomore season starting all 29 games and ranked fourth in all of Division II with 4.1 blocked shots per game. If you aren’t impressed yet just read this stat. Cain recorded 38 blocks in a six-game period AND recorded six or more blocked shots seven times. Nothing was getting passed Cain down low. 

His junior season was his first season in Division I and he adjusted extremely well leading the team in points per game (15.4), rebounds (11.0), blocks (82) and steals (45). He was named first-team All-Independent, while also claiming all-Independent Defensive Player of the Year honors. 

Cain finished out his career averaging a double-double 14.7 points and 10.4 rebounds his senior seasons. He also continued to dominate the paint and recorded 97 blocks on the season. USD won the Great Western Conference regular season and tournament titles to qualify for the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. Cain scored in double figures in 27 games with 14 double-doubles. 

Cain became the second player in USD men’s basketball history to record 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. He sits 13th all-time in points (1,390), second in rebounding (1,087) and eighth in steals (184). He owns USD’s career blocked shots record with 361 and also set the top four single-season marks in the category. He notched 36 career double-doubles in 115 starts.

As graduation was approaching Cain was deciding on where his life was headed. He had several talks with his family, teammates and coaches and ultimately decided to try to play pro ball when he graduated from USD in the spring. 

Since 2010 Cain has played for 10 teams overseas and has won two Latvian Basketball League championships. Throughout his time playing pro ball he has been given the opportunity to travel the world and see some of the world wonders alongside his wife and two kids. 

“I am in Italy currently and I think as far as traveling and seeing the different sites it is definitely the best so far,” Cain said. “The food, the sites, the people have been awesome for not only me but my family as well. We have enjoyed Italy quite a bit so far.”

Some U.S. athletes that play overseas take a risk at being alone in a foreign country away from friends and family but for Cain he has had the great opportunity to experience this life with his wife and kids.

Speaking of family, in the offseason Cain and his family return to the States and visit family for the summer before making their way back to Europe to start training for the next season.

“It’s awesome being able to go back home and visit family after being away for most of the year,” Cain said. “We love the three months or so that we get to spend with friends and family.”

His current team Derthona Basket will compete in the highest tier of the Italian League System for the first time this coming season. Cain has high hopes for the team that was promoted after winning its previous league. 

“This is my first season playing on a first year in the league team,” Cain said. “But they care about basketball and have built a great and completive roster so far.”

Coincidentally, Cain will be teammates with another South Dakota star in Mike Daum who played for South Dakota State from 2015-19 and was a three-time Summit League Player of the Year. Cain said he knew of Daum from just keeping up with the Yotes and the Summit League but has never had any interaction with him until now. 

“He is a great player. He ran through the Summit League with all his accolades,” Cain said. “It will be fun to play alongside a player with his caliber. It’ll definitely make the USD, SDSU games more interesting to watch to see if we can’t make a few bets and have some fun watching those games together.”

Looking back on his playing career at USD Cain said he remembers the off-court stuff more than winning basketball games. 

“Looking back the on-court basketball things were awesome,” Cain said. “But it was the coaches, the teammates and the support staff that made it really special. Playing with such a great group of guys throughout my four years at USD and having great coaches along with the success we had on the basketball court made things very special.

“We still have the group chat going and we still have a lot of joke back and forth between the guys. It’s awesome to see how everyone is evolving in life so it’s fun to see that and be able to keep in touch with them.”

With the new renovations happening to the DakotaDome and the Sanford Coyote Sports Center over the past few years, Cain said that is a great step in the right direction to put South Dakota on the map. 

“I had the chance to walk around and see the arena last summer,” Cain said. “Every player wants to play in a top-notch facility like the SCSC. It is amazing not only for the athletes and teams but for the university as a whole.”

Entering his 12th season of pro ball Cain is not sure how much longer he will continue to play. He said that some of the factors that will come into play are his kids getting older and if it’s the right time to step away. 

“If it’s the right time to be home in the states then we will call it and head back home,” Cain said. “But for now, I still love playing the game and love the competitiveness. We will see when the time comes to step away.” 

When asked about what’s next when he finally decides to hang it up Cain said the only thing, he is sure of is they will move back home to the U.S. 

“We’ll move back home for sure, but we will come up with a plan together before it’s all said and done” Cain said. “We’ve been living overseas for a while now and it will definitely be good to be back home even though we have enjoyed living here.”