In two years at Fresno City College, Terrell Lyday was a standout.
Twice named All-Conference guard, Lyday led the team in scoring, helped the team to a 32-4 record and Conference title in 1999 and along the way was a part of a 16-game winning streak, the second longest streak in school history.
Averaging 16.8 points per game in his two seasons at FCC, Lyday transferred to Brigham Young University in 1999.
At BYU he played 66 games, scoring 1,105 for an average of 16.7 points per game.
He now plays in Europe, winning a Europe Cup and being an All-Eurocup first team selection in 2010-11.
Lyday ranks sixth in the Eurocup’s all-time scoring list (863 points), and is fifth in steals (105) .
Q. Why did you choose to stay home and play at Fresno City College?
A.“Well Fresno City college was one of the best programs out there at the time so it was a no-brainer to stay here and start my college career with a good program.”
Q. What was the best time you had playing at Fresno City? What was the best game you played at Fresno City?
A.“It’s been so long ago I can’t really remember which one was the best, but I remember having a good rivalry with C.O.S and Porterville. They were the teams to beat around here.
Q.You are the No. 8 scorer all – time at FCC. What does that mean to you as a player?
A.”Wow number 8, I know I was doing some scorer but not that much. It’s a great accomplishment, shows all the hard work pays off. I hope I stick around at the 8th spot for a while.”
Q. What was the recruitment process like for you? What schools were interested in you?
A.“The recruiting process was crazy. [I] had a lot of schools interested, almost all the WAC schools at the time: St. Bonaventure, Auburn, and a few others. I narrowed it down to BYU, Hawaii and Auburn at the end.”
Q. Why did you choose BYU?
A.“Well I chose BYU because it wasn’t close to home and it wasn’t so far away from home. Also, on my recruiting visit I loved the school and the atmosphere was nice, a lot of basketball fans. Plus, the coach there was Steve Cleveland who was in the Fresno area and had been recruiting me since high school so it was a easy adjustment.”
Q.Did you have to go on a 2-year mission at BYU, like most athletes have?
A.“No I didn’t have to go on a 2-year mission, that was only for students who were Mormon. They tried to convert me a few times but I was comfortable with my religion.”
Q.What was the hardest challenge of moving to Europe?
A.“Hardest challenge of moving to Europe was the language barrier. Not knowing the language was like a gift and curse. Knowing the language, everyone wanted to talk to you. Not knowing the language had disadvantages as far as grocery shopping or even asking for directions.”
Q. How long did it take for you to adjust to life overseas?
A.“It didn’t take me long to adjust, because being around your teammates, you tend to pick things up and when I was in France I had a tutor so it worked out great for me. Plus, you’re mostly traveling playing ball so the time goes by really fast.”
Q.What advice do you have for a young kid trying to make it in their respective sport?
A.“Just work hard and if you want something bad enough, you got to make it happen. Don’t sit around and expect someone else to get it for you. Because always remember there’s someone out there working just as hard as you or harder.”
