This past season, Lyde averaged 12.8 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 1.9 blocked shots per game. He also was the leading offensive rebounder in the nation in the regular season.
Scouts are uncertain where he would be drafted and whether he would be likely to make an NBA team.
"He has the best hands I've ever seen," Owls coach John Chaney said. "They won't have to worry about his rebounding ability. He's the best we've ever had."
Temple insiders said Lyde had a very close relationship with his head coach. Over the weekend, Chaney said of Lyde, "Maybe also the fact of the matter is he might not want to be in school, and maybe it's the fact that he did so well in the tournament."
A key for Lyde will be getting into better shape and getting healthy. He played through pain his entire career at Temple. His freshman year, he endured a nerve injury in his arm. As a sophomore, he played through back spasms. This season, it was Achilles tendinitis.
Temple's defense certainly won't be the same without him.
"I see him every day in practice; we've never had a kid who closes off the middle, and makes you work so hard," Chaney once said of Lyde.
In other Temple-related news, former assistant coach Dean Demopoulos, who emerged over the weekend as a leading candidate for the St. Bonaventure job, said he would remain as head coach at Missouri-Kansas City. Owls assistant Nate Blackwell also has talked with St. Bonaventure.
Mike Jensen's e-mail address is mjensen@phillynews.com.
