Last week the DePaul men’s basketball team announced that graduate transfer Lyrik Shreiner will be joining the 2018-2019 roster. Shreiner will be eligible for two seasons after previously playing at TCU and Cal State Northridge.

“I thought this would be a great place to get better and to be apart of something special,” Shreiner said. “Lately DePaul hasn’t had too many successful seasons, but we are trying to right the ship and get better this season.”

Last season at Cal State Northridge Shreiner averaged 9.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists while playing all 30 games for the Matadors. Throughout his career he has mostly played as either a point guard or shooting guard. Shreiner joins an already jam-packed backcourt with nine other guards listed on the roster.

Shreiner has become accustomed to moving and getting adjusted to a new city and a new school. Prior to coming to Chicago Shreiner grew up in Virginia and Arizona where he went to two different high schools.

“Basketball is basketball,” Shreiner said. “There isn’t much to adjust in terms of that and I’ve lived in different cities, so I have the experience with that also.”

The Phoenix native started garnering attention from colleges and scouts when he broke the Arizona high school state scoring record with 65 points. In college Shreiner has continued to show off the scoring prowess that made him well-known in Arizona. Last season in the Big West Conference play he tallied three double-doubles and in the final game he scored 20 points with six rebounds and four assists.

The 6-foot-3-inch guard began to take basketball seriously once he began high school and received a pep talk from his AAU coach about making a life out of the sport if he worked hard.

“He [saw] me hooping,” Shreiner said. “[He] said this is what it takes to go to college and since then I have just been trying to get better as much as I can.”

When Shreiner steps on the court this upcoming season, it will not be the first time he has played in a major conference. Even though he saw limited playing time, Shreiner said his time at TCU in the Big 12 will help him adjust.

“I’ve been in those big time situations at Kansas where you can’t even talk to the guy next to you in the bench because it’s so loud in the stadium,” Shreiner said. “Being in those environments that will help me this season in the big games in the Big East.”

Not only is Shreiner excited to be at DePaul this season, but his new teammate Eli Cain is also thrilled with the addition of Shreiner. Cain believes Shreiner can help improve the team and make them stronger as a whole.

“Shreiner brings a lot of energy to the team,” Cain said. “He’s athletic and competitive, guard multiple positions and he’s very fast in transition. I think he will be a lot of help this season.”

Cain also believes that with Shreiner being so experienced and has been around for awhile now that there won’t be any problem fitting Shreiner into the team. Also, Cain feels that Shreiner will help the team grow in multiple aspects, not just scoring, and will bring the necessary leadership to a young and developing squad.

“He’s not just a scorer,” Cain said. “Yes he can put the ball in the hole, but he’s also ’s a very versatile player who can play multiple positions. Having another veteran player who knows right from wrong and knows what to do in tough situations will be a great asset for us.”

Just like any other player, Shreiner believes he can still improve his game in certain areas and raise his numbers from the previous season. Being such an explosive scorer in high school and college, Shreiner wants to improve in other areas as well and thinks DePaul can help him do that.

“I want to become a more consistent shooter, right now I’m a little bit streaky in that department so I want to become more consistent there,” Shreiner said. “Also, I want to be a more efficient player, shoot better from the free throw line and just raise my overall numbers this season.”

Head coach Dave Leitao was unavailable for comment this week due to being away for travel. However, last week he had this to say regarding the transfer of Shreiner.

“We are really happy to add Lyrik to our team at this stage of the preseason,” Leitao said. “He has experience playing college basketball over his two seasons at TCU and Cal State Northridge and provides us added depth in our backcourt. Lyrik is a high-level player in the offensive end of the floor and possesses a high basketball IQ that can help every day in practice and during the season when we open our schedule.”