After spending five years serving his country in the United States Navy, 6-foot-10 Tyler Behrend will be a sophomore with Tulsa Basketball for the 2024-25 season.

Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, and currently living in Phoenix, Arizona, Behrend committed to TU on June 6 after a recent official visit to the Golden Hurricane campus. He signed the next day.

“Tulsa reminds me of Cincinnati in a way, so when I was there, just the smell reminded me of home. Being in Phoenix, you don't get a lot of grass and trees,” he told Inside Tulsa Sports. “And the coaching staff is great. I think it's important to have a strong staff to be successful anywhere.”

Since 2017, Behrend has only played two years of competitive basketball. As a high school freshman, he stood only 5-feet, 2-inches tall. A late bloomer, he was up to 6-foot-6 as a senior at Phoenix (AZ) Valley Lutheran during his senior season in 2017-18, averaging 19.8 points per game in 23 contests.

It was at that point where Behrend’s path to Division-1 basketball took an unconventional turn.

“I joined the Navy right out of high school,” he said. “For two years, I was stationed in San Diego and went on two deployments and multiple underways. We then moved to Washington where we would stay for 18 months.”

Behrend’s lengthy stop in Bremerton, Washington, allowed him the opportunity to work on his basketball skills as he continued to grow in height. A chance meeting during a pick-up game led to a successful season of junior college basketball.

“I was playing pick-up and ended up playing against the coach for Olympic College,” he explained. “Afterward, he asked if I ever played in college and if I wanted to. So, I decided I would give it a try. My chiefs and supervisors in the Navy supported me playing and worked with me.

“The coaches at Olympic also knew that I was committed to the Navy and had responsibilities. They were very understanding about my situation and worked with me. I had to miss some practices. Sometimes, I would take leave so that I could make tournaments and away games.”

In his lone season at Olympic in 2021-22, Behrend averaged 14.4 points and 6.8 rebounds in 28.6 minutes per game, starting 25 of 28 contests. While shooting 47.3 percent from the floor, he had five double-doubles and helped the Rangers to a 21-8 record and a semifinal appearance in the Northwest Athletic Conference tournament.

After the season, Behrend was back on the USS Theodore Roosevelt, but he continued to work toward his associate degree in order to be eligible to transfer once his time with the Navy was done.

“After that, my ship moved back to San Diego, where we would start going out to sea again and preparing for our next deployment,” he said. “By February 1st (of 2024), I was officially done serving my Navy contract.