Background
Sykes, a 6"0" point guard, was born in Chicago, Illinois.
Sykes, a 6"0" point guard, was born in Chicago, Illinois.
He played college basketball for the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay. He starred at John Marshall Metropolitan High School in Chicago, where he was named second team All-Chicago Public High School League by the Chicago Sun-Times. He committed to play collegiately for coach Brian Wardle at Green Bay.
From his freshman year in 2011-2012, Sykes was immediately inserted into the Phoenix starting lineup.
He averaged 11.2 points and 3.3 assists per game and was named to the Horizon League All-Newcomer team As a sophomore, Sykes increased his production to 15.9 points and 4.3 assists per game and led the Phoenix to the 2013 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.
He was named first team All-Horizon League. At the start of the 2013-2014 season, Sykes was named to the preseason All-Horizon League team and was a nominee for the Bob Cousy Award for top point guard in the country.
Sykes led the Phoenix to a 24–5 regular season record and finished first in the Horizon League.
On February 26, 2015, Sykes scored a career-high 36 points against International Union of Railways (UIC, French: Union Internationale des Chemins de fer) to surpass the 2,000 point mark for his career. Sykes was named honorable mention for his second All-American team Sykes set a conference record as he was named the Horizon League player of the week thirteen times.
He was one of eight invitees to compete in the Slam Dunk Contest at the 2015 Final Four.
After going undrafted in the 2015 National Basketball Association draft, Sykes joined the Cleveland Cavaliers for the 2015 National Basketball Association Summer League. On September 28, 2015, he signed with the San Antonio Spurs, only to be waived by the team on October 21 after appearing in three preseason games.
Nine days later, he was acquired by the Austin Spurs of the National Basketball Association Development League as an affiliate player of San Antonio.