Pekin junior athlete recruit Kayne Tyler (6-foot-0, 180 pounds) is an athletic and high level athlete prospect who has seen his recruiting stock rise this winter. Tyler, who played running back and safety this past fall for the Pekin Dragons and head coach Doug Nutter checks in and recaps his latest recruiting news and more in this update.

"I've been staying this busy this winter and I'm playing 7on7 for Boom again this spring," Tyler said. "I wasn't able top play a full 7on7 season last year, so I took a break, I'm much more prepared this winter and I'm excited to play the full 7on7 season and getting some good work in against great competition."

Tyler, who also runs track in the spring for Pekin filled us in on his latest recruiting news so far this winter.

"I've been getting interest and I have been in contact with the coaches from Illinois, Illinois State, St. Thomas, Michigan State along with a few smaller level schools. I was invited earlier to Illinois State for a junior day event but they had to cancel it. Instead Illinois State invited me to come out to see a spring practice and I'll go check that out."

Does Tyler have any one specific position he prefers to play in college?

"When it comes to a position in college it's totally up to them and I'll play anywhere I'm needed to play. A lot of the colleges like me at running back. I started my high school career at wide receiver and I still get some work at receiver. I've also played safety like my entire life so I'm also just as comfortable on defense. I just ant to work on my overall game and hopefully get more college looks for both sides of the football."

Tyler, who was named as an all conference and all area player was asked to break down his fall season performance

"I felt good about my season overall last fall. I was happy about how I was able to finish tackles, and I felt that I was able to put my team in a position to have success. I was also proud at how hard our entire team worked and I placed a lot of focus on leadership and just being a better leader for my team. I'm going to work on having better balance and overall body lean this off season."