EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Purple Aces added its second new signee in the span of a week as University of Evansville men’s basketball coach Marty Simmons has announced that Tyler Ptacek has signed his paperwork to play at UE next season.
 
Ptacek comes to Evansville from Parma, Ohio where he played at Padua Franciscan High School.  Standing at 6-3, the 180 lb. shooting guard was the leading scorer in his senior campaign, posting an average of 19.2 points per game en route to being the top scorer in school history.
 
“We are very excited to welcome Tyler to our program,” Coach Simmons said.  “He can score the basketball in different ways.  He has a terrific background and will fit in very well with our team.”
 
In his last high school game in March, Ptacek finished his career in style, posting 38 points against Cleveland Central Catholic, which was one of the top defenses in the city.  Prior to that, he was named one of the High School Players of the Week by Cleveland.com where he recorded 44 points in two of the top wins of his senior season in late February.  His efforts came in victories over Westlake and Benedictine.
 
A solid scorer throughout his entire high school career, Ptacek averaged almost 16 points in his first three seasons at Padua Franciscan, including a career-high of 21.9 tallies in his junior campaign. 
 
He is the second native of the Cleveland area to join the Aces 2013 recruiting class, joining Duane Gibson, who attended Villa Angela-St. Joseph.  Three others are set for their freshman seasons at UE including: Christian Benzon (Denmark), Jaylon Brown (Fishers, Ind.) and Blake Simmons (Newburgh, Ind.).