When you think of two-sport college athletes, you think of Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders, Russell Wilson, Kyler Murray or Jamies Winston, to name a few.
Could Beechwood’s Tyler Fryman be the next to join the list when he gets to college?
The college landscape has changed a bunch since the names in the opening sentence attended. With NIL and time demands for each sport, it’s very rare you see a two-sport athlete in college anymore. There’s a few examples currently, but the majority of them ended up picking one sport over the other as time went on in their college careers. Check out this Baseball America article in January that hits on that.
Fryman, the Beechwood two-sport standout enters his junior season with scholarship offers in both baseball and football. He committed to Louisville in baseball before his freshman year, but most recently his football recruitment has taken off with offers from Toledo, Miami (Ohio), Louisville and then Notre Dame on Monday.
When the team who reached the national championship game with a storied history comes calling, it surely could open the floodgates for many more football offers to come. He was offered on the spot at both Louisville and Notre Dame football camps. At Louisville he turned heads with a 4.51 timed 40-yard dash. He’s being recruited at wide receiver, but is also a very effective safety at the high school level.
His football emergence is under the radar, he’s not currently ranked by 247 Sports in their 2027 Kentucky football recruit rankings, imagine that changes soon.
In training at Beechwood, he takes part with Franks Academy, led by Jordan Franks, a former NFL tight end who won a Super Bowl ring with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2022.
Fryman’s sophomore football season was minimized due to an injury, limited to six games for the 2A state champs. He still made his presence felt with 17 receptions for 299 yards and four touchdowns, and rushed for 70 yards and a touchdown. He also collected 26 tackles and intercepted a pass at safety. In the state championship game against Owensboro Catholic, he led the team with 10 tackles and ran for a touchdown.
In baseball this past season, he led the Tigers in nearly every batting category while being the team’s primary centerfielder. He hit .436 with four home runs, 36 RBI, 19 doubles, 44 runs scored and 34 stolen bases as the leadoff hitter.
Fryman made the Kentucky High School Baseball Coaches Association All-State third team and the Kentucky Prep Baseball Report All-State first team.