Sports Spotlight 4-30: Prairie du Chien’s Tyler Henry

Our latest senior athlete in the News 8 Now Sports Spotlight is Prairie du Chien’s Tyler Henry.

Tyler is a fighter. He was born 11 weeks early weighing less than three pounds, and had to spend 45 days in the neonatal ICU. He was also diagnosed with autism at age 4, but with countless of hours of work in speech and occupational therapy, he’s overcome every obstacle and has grown into a healthy student-athlete.

He’s had a love of basketball from an early age, and with his 6-foot-5 frame, he joined the PDC Special Olympics basketball team his junior year. His coach says he was a little nervous and shy at the beginning, but it didn’t take him long to become a leader on the court, whether it’s cashing in shots in the paint or getting his teammates involved. His team ended up going all the way and taking home the Division 6 state title last spring.

Tyler had hopes of replicating that success in his senior season, and the team was well on their way. With Tyler averaging 25 points a game, his team won their qualifying tournament in Stoughton back in February. On March 1 PDC won at sectionals and were set to compete in the state Special Olympics regional tournament two weeks later, but it was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns.

Playing basketball has helped Tyler come out of his shell a little bit. His kindness, big smile and even bigger heart have won over his whole community.

If you have an athlete you want to nominate, head to our sports page at news8000.com. and click on our Sports Spotlight story. There you’ll be invited to fill out our nomination form. You can also send Sports Director Ken Kosirowski an email (kkosirowski@wkbt.com) with any photos and videos of your athlete that you’d like him to include on-air.

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