The likes of Chris Kielsmeier and Ella Van Weelden may not reside at Cleveland State any longer, but Iowa will still have a notable presence on the Vikings’ roster in 2027, thanks to the commitment of West Des Moines native Tylee Weite on Wednesday.
The 5-11 shooting guard is a rising senior at Valley High School, where she helped the Tigers to a regional championship last year – their second in three seasons – earning a place in the eight-team state tournament for Iowa’s largest schools. Along the way, Weite scored 14.8 points and grabbed 5.3 rebounds per game, leading Valley in both categories.
She also shot 36.9 percent from three-point range, with good volume. Actually, strike that, with absurd volume. Weite hoisted 160 attempts from deep over the course of 24 games, or 6.7 tries per game. For context, Colbi Maples was CSU’s leader in shots from behind the arc last season, shooting 6.3 per game (with a significant dropoff to Sarah Hurley’s second-place mark of 3.5). Destiny Leo owns the Vikings’ record for three-point attempts in a season with 251 in 2024-25, which works out to 6.8 per game.
So yes, Weite likes to chuck it, though Prep Girls Hoops offers a note of caution in that regard. The website presently ranks her sixth among Iowa’s 2027 graduating class, but also pointed out that she showed as a more well-rounded player than her reputation during the summer AAU season:
Weite switched AAU programs this last year and it was a great move. In her new system she was able to show off all the parts of her game, not just her shooting ability, and that let scouts see what she might really be able to do for them down the line. She hit meaningful shots from all over the floor offensively, she locked in defensively, and she left it all out on the hardwood – which is really all you can ask for as a coach.
That display likely led to Cleveland State’s offer, which arrived on July 30th, right on the heels of a showcase weekend in Hamilton, OH. Previous suitors included several top mid-major programs like South Dakota, St. Thomas, Illinois State and, more recently, Omaha and Northern Iowa.
Much of that interest came around the 2024-25 season at Valley, when Weite put up 13.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, though she was pretty much a star from the moment she reached high school. As a freshman, she went 4-for-8 from deep, and scored 19 of the Tigers’ 39 points, to bury rival Ankeny in a 2024 district final matchup. Â
Weite’s commitment arrived just a couple days after another, that of standout Indianapolis guard Elliot Leffler.  Already, the duo projects as Cleveland State’s strongest freshman class in recent years, once they hit campus next summer.
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