WILLIE
TAYLOR SPOTLIGHT2-27-03
This week the Ram Spotlight shines on a student-athlete who is used to receiving a lot of attention, be it from fans, the media or from opposing defenses aimed at stopping him. Senior forward Willie Taylor has been in the spotlight since arriving at VCU as a high-profile transfer from Georgetown, leading the team in scoring the past two seasons while climbing VCU's all-time scoring chart. With the Rams playing well heading into the final stretch of the regular season and the CAA Tournament, it's possible that at no other point in his career at VCU has the attention been focused more intensely on Taylor than it is right now.
During his team's eight-game unbeaten streak, Taylor averaged 19.9 points per game, over two points more than his season average of 17.5. He topped 20 points in six of those games, including a 33-point performance against William & Mary in his final regular-season game at the Siegel Center last week. He made an eye-popping 60.6 percent of his field goal attempts, including 21-of 41 (.512) from three-point range. His late-season scoring binge has put Taylor's name on a very short list of candidates for CAA Player of the Year. But the only number that means anything to Taylor is eight, as in a string of eight consecutive "W's" in the results column.
"[The streak] has been great," Taylor said. "I'm sure there are a lot of other teams out there who'd love to be playing as well as we are at the end of February and going into March. A big part of our success comes from practice and working on finishing games. We lost a lot of close games earlier in the season, and we've tried to learn from our mistakes. It was just a matter of closing out games like we should."
Despite having such a hot hand lately, Taylor doesn't feel he is any more responsible for the team's success than anyone else in the locker room, a sentiment that first-year head coach Jeff Capel has engendered within his team. "This has been a total team effort," Taylor said. "I have to give all the credit to my teammates; it's all about me finishing what they start. My teammates have been putting me in good scoring positions on the court, and I just try to knock it down.
"Plus, we have Domonic Jones that you have to pay attention to, Emanuel Mathis has been scoring from the wing, and Troy Godwin can score from inside. So [opponents] can't focus on any one guy or someone else will step up and hurt them. Coach Capel stresses that the team is more important than any one individual."
Along with stepping up offensively as his final season at VCU approached its final month, Taylor has shown marked improvement as a defender. While no one has suggested nicknaming Taylor "The Glove," it is apparent that he has made a commitment to defending better. "The coaching staff as well as my teammates have pushed me to be a better defender in practice, which is where it all started. They've encouraged me to give an all-out effort on each defensive possession. The defensive end is more fun now, since our team defense gets us a lot of steals and easy chances to score on the other end."
Taylor also credits a meeting with Capel with helping him refocus and work hard toward reaching his potential as a basketball player. "Coach Capel basically challenged me to be a better overall player, both offensively and defensively. I've met the challenge, and I'm trying to be the best player I can be on the court."
There isn't much doubt that Taylor will go down as one of the best players to ever wear the black and gold. Going into last night's game with James Madison, Taylor had 1,305 career points, placing him 14th on VCU's all-time scoring list, just 74 points away from ninth. He also ranked third in three-pointers made (153) and seventh in three-point field goal percentage (.386). But four years ago, when Taylor decided to transfer from Georgetown, there was doubt in Taylor's mind whether he would attend VCU.
"God has a plan for everyone, and [coming to VCU] was it for me," Taylor said. "When VCU was recruiting me after I decided to transfer, I was leaning on going somewhere else and didn't think I'd even visit VCU. But my mom told me I should go anyway, and it was a free trip. But when I got here I really liked Richmond and the nice facilities at VCU. The team had a lot of young players too, and I thought it would be a good fit for me. It has been."
In his final home game last Wednesday, Taylor gave the VCU faithful a spectacular finale with 33 points, including seven three-pointers, in the win over William & Mary. It was a special night for Taylor, who has wowed the Siegel Center crowd many times over the past three seasons with his high-flying dunks. "We had good fan support, my parents made it to the game despite the bad weather, and we were playing a team that had beaten us the first time we played them this year," Taylor said. "It felt good to go out with a good game like that, and it was special with us winning my last game at home."
Off the court, Taylor graduates in May with a degree in criminal justice, an accomplishment he feels is more important than anything he has done in basketball. But with two important regular-season games and the CAA Tournament yet to play, Taylor is focused on achieving what he considers his ultimate goal as a college basketball player. "I want to go to the NCAA Tournament more than any individual accomplishment," he said. "We don't need to do anything different from how we've been playing lately. We need to just stick to the game plan.
"I think we can win it all; it's all about what we do as a team and not what the other teams are doing. We control our own destiny."