On the far court inside the gymnasium at Avon Old Farms, Ty Tabales found himself 1-on-1 with a defender behind the 3-point arc on the right wing. He took one jab with his right foot, and his opponent didn’t move. Then he started getting ideas.
“I was like, ‘Let me try something real quick,’” Tabales said.
It was the second weekend of the NEPSAC Scholastic Showcases in late June, and Tabales was feeling himself in a signature matchup against Brewster. The New Hampton guard had the whole right side to himself, and he broke down his defender with a dizzying sequence. A dribble to his right, a behind-the-back dribble to his left, then a quick spin move toward the baseline, where he turned his hips to unleash a fallaway jumper that calmly swished through the net.
The college coaches seated on the baseline turned their heads at each other, reacting with some disbelief.
“(Tabales) was like, ‘I blacked out. I didn’t even know. It just took over, I didn’t know what was happening,’” New Hampton coach Andrew Gale said.
If you ask Tabales, and his circle of friends and family from Fitchburg and Worcester, Mass., it’s the type of move he’s been trying since he was in seventh grade. It’s also the type of play you only try with extreme confidence. And in that moment, it was at an all-time high.
Three weeks later, after a successful live period with the Middlesex Magic, Tabales committed to Bryant as he shifted back to the 2025 class, completing a monumental month as one of the biggest stock-risers in New England.
“He took his ability as a college-ready player to the next level,” said Magic coach Michael Crotty.
But Tabales very nearly never got there.
His path to get to this point is one of great resilience. Two years ago, he laid in a bed for 18 days at Boston Children’s Hospital during a period of profound agony and emotion that has shaped who he is. Tabales was diagnosed with a rare, life-threatening illness called toxic shock syndrome. He had to learn how to walk again. He’s now off to Smithfield, R.I., and Division 1 basketball to continue his inspirational journey.
“I’m not even supposed to be here right now,” Tabales said. “What I look back at is that I really got myself out of that. I would say I’m just an adversity warrior. I’m definitely proud of that.”
NEW MAG: Check out our August 2025 edition
'They don't think you're going to make it'
Initially, Tabales didn’t think much of it.
It was Worcester North’s home opener against St. Paul in Dec. 2022, and Tabales – after averaging a team-high 16.4 points in a strong freshman season – was hoping to take it to the next level as a sophomore, surrounded by a loaded Polar Bears cast that included childhood friends Tahlan Pettway, Amir Jenkins and Teshaun Steele. Tabales went up for a layup, was undercut by an opponent and fell on his shoulder. He laid on the court for a few moments, but eventually got up and brushed himself off.
But that same night, Tabales was out at the movies with friends when he felt like he was getting a fever. Then, when he got home and took a shower, he felt his right hand dangling as he washed himself. He was feeling unbearable pain.
At that point, Tabales’ dad was already asleep and he hoped to just sleep it off. But then he woke up at 3 a.m. and vomited blood. He woke up his dad, and they headed to urgent care. He had a fever of 104 degrees.
“I’m like, ‘Damn, what’s going on?’” Tabales said.
That began a scary, uncertain period. Tabales said he went to six facilities in pursuit of a solution. He couldn’t eat, drink or go to the bathroom as he lost significant weight. Eventually, he was told – after X-rays – that one of his kidneys was higher than the other, and he was sent to Boston Children’s.
Initially, they couldn’t figure it out. And after spending a week in the ICU, as tests and treatments proved unsuccessful, there were grim moments. Tabales remembers one day when a doctor brought his mom outside the hospital room, and she came back in crying.
“I was like, ‘What happened?’” Tabales said. “She was like, ‘Ty, they don’t think you’re going to make it.’”
Eventually, a biopsy revealed that Tabales had strep A, a bacteria that was attacking the nerves in his right side and causing toxic shock syndrome. He was presented with two options: he would need something amputated, or have surgery to remove the bacteria, but there was no guarantee it would work. Tabales chose the surgery.
It worked – briefly. Two days later, after returning home, Tabales’ temperature spiked back to 103. He returned to Boston Children’s; the bacteria had grown back, and he needed surgery again. Tabales stayed in the hospital for another week.
When Tabales returned home, his weight had dropped to 125, and he had to teach himself to walk again. As he regained strength, he wasted little time in his rehab.
The next day, Tabales was in the gym with his uncle, Albert Ortiz, at Above the Rim Training, to start to get back up to basketball speed. He began his rehab at Select Physical Therapy in Worcester, and he was quickly back to school and Worcester North’s practices, getting some shots up by himself and seeing his teammates again. Doctors told Tabales that he likely wouldn’t play again that season, but there he was on Jan. 27, two days after his first official practice back – on the court for North’s game against Main South.
REALITY CHECK: Is the nonstop high basketball calendar too much?
Tabales admitted he was a little nervous; he knew his body was still fragile, and he didn’t want to take any bumps. But the 3-point marksman quickly found his groove. His first shot, a 3-pointer from the right wing, was good. The next play, Pettway found him in the same spot in transition. Splash. The crowd – including his emotional family – roared.
Tabales made five 3-pointers in his return, a blowout victory.
“It was just beautiful to watch,” his father, Ish, said. “It was out of a storybook.”
The storybook continued, as Ty and North went on to win the Div. 1 state championship that March, the first in Worcester’s history. That seemed unthinkable for Ty three months prior, as he laid in that hospital bed. But he kept a glowing spirit and faith. While he struggled with the pain and uncertainty inside, he cracked jokes, even on his worst days, to make everyone laugh.
Ty got a tattoo on his left side that reads: “Under the shelter of God’s love I find the strength to weather every storm,” Whenever he lifts up his right arm, the scar is still there, a constant reminder of what he overcame. The experience changed his perspective of life.
“It's just a mindset of just being grateful,” Ty said. “It really just opened my eyes of how important breathing is. I carry myself differently. After going through what I went through, I move a lot differently off the court, just being grateful. At the end of the day, I’m not really supposed to be here right now.”
'Who's this guy?'
Ish still laughs to this day about the coaching guidance that turned into a running joke. When Ty was younger, playing up on the Central Mass Warriors – the AAU team he and Ortiz started – they always told him that as the point guard, he needed to pass first and shoot second. Ty had the opposite mindset. He always loved shooting.
“I just always wanted to shoot the ball,” Ty said. “I’m the only kid shooting threes in the first grade. Everybody’s like, ‘What are you doing?’ And I’m like, ‘Steph Curry! Steph Curry!’”
Over time, with great role models and teachers around him, Ty developed into a complete guard. Ish played in Puerto Rico, and his cousins Joe Pridgen and Deandre Ortiz played in college. His dad worked at Union Hill School – right across the street from Worcester Academy – and the players like Dasante Bowen would come over to play. Ty was always advanced for his age, playing up on AAU teams.
When Ty was in the sixth grade, Ish noticed his son had a knack for winning, and it was clear he had great promise. During Covid, Ish cleaned out the shed in their backyard, and they went through skill training, crafting Ty to be a point guard and teaching him the nuances of the game. They spent hours there.
“If you tell him something, it stuck,” Ish said. “He’s a great student of the game.”
SUMMER STANDOUTS: 15 stock-risers from the second half of 2025 grassroots season
After his sophomore season at North, Ty transferred to New Hampton. He joined a loaded Huskies team that included point guard and future Cincinnati commit Keyshuan Tillery. At first, Ty admitted, he thought Tillery was graduating, and when he realized they were in the same class, there were some second thoughts on if it was the right choice. But it proved to be critical to his development.
Ty learned under Tillery’s wing, and became arguably the best sixth man in NEPSAC, a spark plug who could change games with his shooting and defense. He became a better off-ball guard, which in turn helped him be a better lead guard. After two years of practicing against and watching Tillery, Ty was ready for his moment.
It came in June at the NEPSAC Scholastic Showcases, where he was arguably the top performer of the two weekends. The keys had been passed to him as New Hampton’s lead guard, He hit five 3-pointers in the first half, and had his first in-game dunk, in his first game of the weekend, a win over Newman. He carried that confidence with loud performances.
“People were like, ‘Who the hell is this? Who’s this guy? Where has he been?’” Ish said.
Ty and his dad had been working together behind the scenes, studying film of Tillery and working on how to balance being an elite shotmaker with being a floor general. It all came to fruition.
“I got goosebumps,” Ish said.
Coaches were coming up to Ish at the showcases, and he was getting calls left and right. Bryant, Ty’s first Division 1 offer in 2023, ultimately won his recruitment. Under new head coach Jamion Christian – who traveled to watch Ty’s July live period games with the Magic – Bryant put out all the stops and offered him an opportunity to not only have an impact role, but come right away this fall. They couldn’t pass it up.
“It felt right,” said Ty, who’s 19 and ready to make an impact with his playmaking and intangibles.
“They’re going to get a leader out of me. Everywhere I’ve been, I’m always going to be a leader. … I’m a dog, too. You need me to go out there and play defense, I’ll play defense. You need me to go out there and hit half-court shots, I’ll hit as many half-court shots as you need me to hit.”
Ty’s journey has been filled with obstacles. In 2023, he lost his best friend, Carl-Hens Beliard, who was killed. It was another difficult moment for him, but he pushed forward. Everything has come so quickly, he didn’t have a chance to reflect until a recent vacation in South Carolina. He’s proud of himself, and most importantly to him, he’s made his family proud. But he knows there’s more to do; the same day he committed, he was in the gym doing two workouts. He won’t take his life for granted.
“One thing I learned through this basketball stuff for life, no matter what you go through, at the end of the day, nobody cares, you still have to handle your business,” Ty said. “I don’t feel bad for myself and that’s something my uncle, since Day 1, he always told me. Like Ty, you can’t feel bad for yourself. Everybody goes through things. But everything I went through, I took it chest out, chin up and I just moved with everything that came my way.”
Ish recently called Ty to tell him that he’s proud of him, something he does often. Ty’s response? “Dad, we’re not done. I got more to go.”
