Freshman Taylor unfazed by SEC road atmosphere
COLLEGE STATION — A big part of guard Wade Taylor IV’S success early in his college career stems from his ability to blend speed and serenity.
“I know my time will come,” Taylor said of coming off the bench in all 19 of Texas A&M’S games this season. “I just play my role and be the best I can be in that role.”
Taylor, a freshman who a year ago was starring at Lancaster High, seems unfazed by SEC basketball, which came in handy Saturday night in a raucous setting at Arkansas.
“The emotion and the ambiance and the environment doesn’t alter who he is,” A&M coach Buzz Williams said. “He’s going to have an unbelievable college career.”
Taylor (6-foot, 186) scored a career-high 25 points against the Razorbacks in the Aggies’ 76-73 overtime loss at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark., and was the primary reason A&M was able even to push the contest into an extra period after trailing 20-4 early.
“I just come out thinking, ‘Defense first,’ ” Taylor said of trying to provide the
Aggies a consistent jolt. “I know my team needs me to bring energy in coming off the bench.”
The Aggies (15-4, 4-2 SEC) likely will need that energy again Wednesday night at No. 19 LSU (15-4, 3-4) in another rowdy venue in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, La.
“I’ve been saying long before we played an SEC game that I just adore who ‘4’ is,” Williams said, calling Taylor by his nickname. “I love his spirit and you can tell he was raised by parents who taught him right from wrong on and off the court.
“I’m thankful that in his 19th game in college, in his first true road game in that sort of environment, that he had the presence he did on both ends of the floor.”
Taylor’s 25 points were the most by an A&M freshman against an SEC opponent since guard T.J. Starks scored 26 against Alabama in the 2018 SEC tournament under then-coach Billy Kennedy.
Williams arrived at A&M a year later from Virginia Tech intent on emphasizing recruiting his home state, considering College Station is within a few hours of five of the nation’s 13 most populous cities in
Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin and Fort Worth.
“I want to sign Texas guys who are going to be successful, who fit at Texas A&M and are what we want to be about academically and on the floor,” Williams said. “The priority of recruiting this state is important, as long as it fits what we’re trying to accomplish.”
What Williams is trying to accomplish in 2022 is shoving the Aggies into the NCAA Tournament for the first time in his three seasons at A&M and for the first time in four years. As of late January, the Aggies are considered a bubble team.
They’re tied for third in SEC play a third of the way through league competition but have dropped consecutive games against Kentucky and Arkansas as the schedule stiffened a bit following a 4-0 start.
“You win some and you lose some, and of course nobody on this team wants to lose,” Taylor said. “But we also know there are some lessons in losses.”
A year ago, Williams signed Taylor and fellow guard Manny Obaseki, both from the Dallas area and both four-star guards, along with center Ashton Smith from Legacy the School of Sport Sciences in Spring.
“We signed arguably the two best guards in the state,” Williams said of his emphasis on keeping closer to home on the recruiting front.
Taylor ranks fifth on the team in scoring, averaging 8.5 points over 16 minutes per game, while Obaseki is averaging 2.7 points over 10 minutes per game. Williams also leaned heavily on the transfer portal in the offseason, with three of A&M’S top four scorers having arrived last summer from other programs.
“(Williams) has done a good job of putting his roster together and getting the pieces to really, really fit,” LSU coach Will Wade said. “They play extremely hard and it’s going to be tough sledding all night on both ends of the court.”