Published Apr 17, 2020
Tyshawn Taylor: "I turned 30 on Easter, so I'm officially an old guy"
Shay Wildeboor  •  JayhawkSlant
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During his career at Kansas, Tyshawn Taylor, the 6-foot-3, 200-pound guard from Hoboken, N.J., compiled an overall record of 127-21. In 146 games, he scored 1,580 points, pulled down 324 rebounds, dished out 575 assists, and was credited with 172 steals.

Taylor, during that same stretch, hit 47.6 percent of his field goals, 37.0 percent of his shots from behind the arc, and 70.1 percent of his free-throws.

Taylor, during his senior season, led the Jayhawks to a record of 32-7 and 16-2 in Big 12 play. Kansas advanced to the National Championship game, but ultimately fell to Kentucky, 67-59.

Throughout his career, Taylor provided Kansas fans with many memorable and unforgettable moments along the way. On Wednesday afternoon, JayhawkSlant.com caught up with Taylor to talk about life, basketball, fatherhood, and his time at Kansas.

“I’m in Florida, actually,” Tyshawn Taylor told JayhawkSlant.com on Wednesday afternoon. “I’m sitting right next to my mom and we’re just chilling. Obviously, we can’t do much right now, so we’re just kicking it and taking it easy. My birthday was on Easter Sunday and I turned 30, so I am officially an old guy.

“I had a really good birthday,” he added. “Like I said, I couldn’t do too much, but I actually spent my last four birthdays overseas, by myself, so it was good to be at home. I was around a little bit of the family that I could be around. I got a good home cooked meal, so it was good to just enjoy my birthday.”

After leading Kansas to the National Championship game as a senior, Taylor was selected with the 41st overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers. He was later traded to the Brooklyn Nets for cash considerations.

In January 2014, Taylor was eventually traded to the New Orleans Pelicans and, later that month, was acquired by the Maine Red Claws. After playing all over the world, including stops in Puerto Rico, Russia, Venezuela, Maccabi, Turkey, Israel, Singapore, Vietnam, and Italy, Taylor is back in the states and, with plenty of time on his hands, is contemplating his next move.

“The coronavirus is making it easier to understand what life would be like without basketball,” said Taylor. “It feels weird and uncomfortable right now, because we’re in the early stages of this, and this would be about the end of the season. Just sitting at home everyday and being around my kids and just kind of being a regular dad, it kind of makes you think.

“I’m at the later years of my career, but I’m definitely not ready to hang them up yet,” he added. “I definitely want to be a part of the game when I finish. I think that I’ve got a lot to give back to the game, whether that be a coach or trainer, something along those lines.”


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As far as his future goes, Taylor doesn’t know what his next move is going to be at this time.

“I’m not under contract right now,” said Taylor. “Honestly, when you’re playing overseas, you don’t really have your pick of a better place. I guess there are some places that I’m more comfortable with. When you’re away from friends and family, it’s just another place.

“I’ve enjoyed being able to see all of these places,” he added. “But I don’t really have a preference. Just whatever is most comfortable and whatever the best situation is for me.”

In making the move from Hoboken, N.J., to Lawrence, Kan., it didn’t take long for Taylor, who arrived on campus as the No. 77 ranked player in the 2008 class, to make the adjustment from high school hoops to big-time college basketball.

During his four-year career, Kansas went 27-8, 33-3, 35-3, and 32-7. Before advancing to the National Championship game as a senior, Taylor, in the NCAA Tournament, had some heartbreaking losses.

Kansas, without question, was the team to beat his sophomore and junior year, but the Jayhawks were stunned by Northern Iowa and VCU in the NCAA Tournament.

“The one time we didn’t win 30 games was my freshman year,” said Taylor. “Northern Iowa, man. I just hate Northern Iowa. The next year we lost to VCU in the tournament and then we made it to the title game against Kentucky. That run we had to the national championship game was amazing.

“Over my career, that wasn’t the best team that I played on,” he added. “I played on some really good teams, teams that went 33-3 and 33-5. From top to bottom, it wasn’t the best team, but we just worked so hard and Coach Self just coached his ass off, man. All of the coaches were so great that year. Coach Manning, Coach T (Townsend), Coach Keller and Coach Hinson.

“It just clicked,” he continued. “We were 32-7 and we lost a lot of games, which all turned out to be good things for us. I feel like we bounced back that year very well from every loss we took. We fought so hard in every game and every game just seemed like a learning experience. We just kept winning and kept figuring it out.”

The 2011-12 team provided Kansas fans with a memorable run throughout the month of March that won’t soon be forgotten. The Jayhawks opened up the NCAA Tournament with wins over Detroit and Purdue in Omaha, Neb. In advancing to St. Louis, Kansas slipped by N.C. State, 60-57 and then drubbed North Carolina, 80-67 with a late 13-0 run.

In New Orleans, La., Kansas, after trailing Ohio State by double-digits, rallied late to stun the Buckeyes, 64-62. Finally, in the National Championship game, KU’s magical run came to an end against Kentucky, led by Anthony Davis, 67-59.


“I remember that run we had against North Carolina,” said Taylor. “That just goes to Coach Self, again, and his staff. We went on that run, I think, when we changed our defense. That run came from us changing our defense. We went to a triangle and two or a box and one, or something. That just goes to the brilliance of our coaching staff.

“The coaching staff helped us by doing so much homework and being so in-depth with the scouting reports and just being on top of everything to give us any little advantage they could," he added. "We just weren’t the best team. Thomas Robinson was going to get his numbers and I was playing well, and everybody played well."

“Everybody played well, but you didn’t know who was going to play well,” he continued. “You just never really knew. You didn’t know if it was going to be Travis (Releford) or Jeff (Withey) or Elijah (Johnson).”

There are times when Taylor thinks about what life might be like had he never ended up playing for Bill Self and Kansas. Originally, Taylor, a four-star prospect coming out of St. Anthony High School, signed to play for Tom Crean and Marquette.

After taking official visits to Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, and Marquette, Taylor was sold on playing for Crean and the Golden Eagles. However, Crean eventually left Marquette to take over as head coach at Indiana.

As it turned out, Taylor visited Kansas on April 23, 2008, and verbally committed to Self and the Jayhawks on April 29.

“Oh yes, for sure,” said Taylor when asked if he thinks about how he ended up at Kansas. “I think about it every time my story comes up. It’s a huge part of my story. I think it worked out for me amazingly. I think it gave me the opportunity to play right away, which I don’t think I would have at Marquette. It gave me a chance to get away from home and to kind of meet new people and be my own person.

“One of the main reasons I went to Marquette was to play in the Big East,” he added. “It wasn’t like I was in New York or New Jersey, but I would play two or three games a year and I’d be able to come home during breaks and stuff like. So, I was excited about stuff like that.”

According to Taylor, he needed just one visit to make a final decision regarding his future. Just one visit and his recruitment was over.


“Kansas is the only visit that I took when Coach Crean left Marquette,” he said. “After I visited Kansas, it was over. They had won the championship by that point and guys knew what they were doing and everybody was already committed, so I knew where other guys were already.

“It was kind of an easy choice,” he added. “When I was doing in-home visits, Kansas wasn’t really recruiting me much. They came to visit at a high school or middle school that I was working at in the summertime. I talked to Coach Self right after I talked to Billy Donovan. I remember my mom was there and my stepdad was there. Once I visited Kansas, I knew that my recruitment was over. I only needed that one visit.”