By Mike Perrin
When
Phil Taylor graduated from Wheeler High School in Marietta, Ga., he was a Top 50 point guard prospect who had averaged 16.8 points and 3.3 assists a game as a senior. He was recruited by Western Kentucky, South Florida, Central Florida, Richmond, Northeastern and Hofstra – along with Florida International, where he signed to play for NBA legend Isiah Thomas in 2010.
Now, in his first season at
Shorter University, Taylor is third in Division II scoring, averaging 26.1 points a game.
Pretty remarkable, especially considering Taylor left FIU following his sophomore season when Thomas was fired in April 2012 and didn't play college basketball again until this season.
"I took the time off to get my mind straight, grow up and decide what I wanted to do with my life," said Taylor, who turned 25 years old on Jan. 6. "I knew that with my time off, I had to come back and make an impact. It's like your favorite car – after it sits for a while you have to take it to the shop and tune it up.
"I think I'm better. I've grown mentally and know the game more, which makes it easier for me."
This season, only three times has Taylor failed to score at least 18 points. His season-high – 46 against North Georgia – is 6 points shy of the top individual scoring performance in all of D2. Six times this season he has scored more than 30 points in a game – including 38 Thursday night in a win at Valdosta State that lifted the Hawks to 10-10 on the year – and his efforts have helped Shorter to average 88.1 points a game, No. 1 in the Gulf South Conference. He is tops in the league in minutes per game (38.7), second in assists per game (4.5) and third in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.8) and 3-point percentage (42.2).
In back-to-back outings against West Alabama and West Georgia, Taylor was held to 8 and 9 points, respectively. "I feel I took myself mentally out of the game in those two games," the 5-foot-10, 165-pound junior said. "It was frustrating, but anyone who plays knows that those nights will come. What you have to do is to continue to work on your game the next day to get better."
Shorter coach
Tyler Murray used a Wheeler High connection to get the Brooklyn-born Taylor to return to the college game just about an hour up the road from his home. "I had a great connection with Coach Murray," Taylor said. "He was friends with some alumni who went to my high school and played there, and those guys said nothing but good things about him and told me that Shorter would be a great place for me.
"Honestly, I felt Shorter was a great opportunity for me. I had a couple other schools interested in me, but I felt Shorter was something I couldn't turn down because it's close to home."
Murray is glad to have his new point guard, on many levels. "Phil is a special player who contributes much more than just points to our team," Murray said. "Phil is obviously a very talented player, but he has also brought great leadership and experience to our team. He brings a unique ability to make his teammates and everyone around him better with his competitive drive and desire to win.
"I am very proud of Phil. Not only has he had great success on the basketball court since arriving at Shorter, but he has also had great success in the classroom as well. In his first semester at Shorter he posted a 3.0 grade point average," he said.
Taylor has some pretty strong professional basketball connections to draw from with the Hawks. JJ Hickson (a Wheeler High graduate) of the Denver Nuggets and Lou Williams (a South Gwinnett grad) of the Los Angeles Lakers are friends and former NBA most valuable player Allen Iverson is his godfather.
"Allen and my dad were best friends through a common friend (Rahsaan 'Ra' Langford), who was childhood friends with Iverson and was a friend of my dad," Taylor said. "When 'Ra' passed away, Allen and my dad established a great relationship. Allen's kids are like my brothers and sisters.
"His will and toughness – when I was growing up and saw him play, I just knew that was how I wanted to play, just like him."
Competing and succeeding in the GSC – "the highest level of Division II basketball you can play in," Taylor said – are just part of his goals at Shorter.
"My goal is to graduate and hopefully leave a big imprint on this basketball program," he said. "I'd love to be able to play pro basketball somewhere, but if I can't, I still want to continue to have ties with basketball.
"I have an opportunity to be the first from my family to graduate from college and that's what I want to accomplish. I want to make my parents and my family proud."
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