(Thursday, April 18; Sioux Center, Iowa)  Tysen De Vries, a senior at Pella Christian High School (Iowa), has announced his intention to attend Dordt and join the Defender men's basketball program.  

"Tysen has the ability to play with great pace and he has improved his shooting greatly over the last couple of years. We look forward to his development as a player and a person at Dordt," said Dordt men's basketball coach Brian Van Haaften.  

De Vries is a point guard who averaged 14 points, four assists and one steal per game.  He converted 45 percent of his three-point shots and is a two-time, first-team, all-conference and all-substate selection and he was a Class 2A third-team all-state pick.  

"I chose Dordt University because of the Christian community surrounding and within Dordt.  I want to play basketball and compete at a high level but I also want to play for a bigger purpose whch is to honor and glorify God with the talents He has given me," said De Vries.  

Tysen is the son of Randy and Jodi De Vries of Pella, Iowa. He plans to study business management at Dordt.  

Dordt University in Sioux Center, Iowa, is a comprehensive Christian college rooted in the Reformed tradition. The Defender athletic program is a part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC), American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) and the Mid-American Collegiate Hockey Association (MACHA).    

U.S. News & World Report, Money Magazine, Forbes.com, Washington Monthly, and Princeton Review all list Dordt on their best colleges lists. Dordt is home to approximately 1,500 students.