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Tuesday, April 22, 2008

N.M.'s Finest Recruit Taylor Picks Vandy

By Will Webber
Journal Staff Writer
    For two years, Jeff Taylor made sweet music on the hardwood for the Hobbs boys basketball team.
    Starting next year, he'll be doing more of the same in the Music City.
    The 6-foot-7 senior forward ended months of speculation— and college coaches' hand-wringing— by offering an oral commitment to Nashville's Vanderbilt University on Monday afternoon.
    "I'm glad it's over," Taylor said by phone shortly after informing family and friends. "It was a hard decision to make. There were a lot of teams to weed out, but I'm happy with the way it went."
    Dozens of the country's biggest college programs were hot on Taylor's heels virtually from the point he transferred to Hobbs from his native Sweden prior to his junior year. And for good reason.
    The son of one of Hobbs' best players— the elder Jeff Taylor went on to a celebrated career at Texas Tech before playing professionally in the United States and Europe— he led the state in scoring as both a junior and senior.
    He also established a Hobbs career scoring record and finished the season averaging about 30 points and 14 rebounds.
    The final hurrah came in the Class 5A title game when he scored 31 points— including 24 in a row at one point— while leading the Eagles to their 16th state championship with a win over Clovis.
    Taylor's suitors included UCLA, Texas, Kentucky, Gonzaga and UNLV. The Lobos were in that mix as well, but Taylor said he was considering only Vandy and Texas at the end.
    "I've got about five or six boxes of letters from schools all over," he said. "From the start, my family let me know that this was my decision. Everyone had some input, but in the end my family wanted it to be my choice."
    NCAA rules allow players to make a maximum of five official recruiting visits. Taylor said he took only four; to Vanderbilt, Texas, UNLV and Gonzaga. He turned down offers to visit UCLA and Kentucky.
    "My dad and I sat down and looked at the rosters of all the teams and talked about who had what kind of players coming back," Taylor said. "(Vanderbilt) is really going to need help right away, and that was a factor."
    "I think he saw a chance to maybe play immediately," said Hobbs coach Russ Gilmore. "That made (Vanderbilt) more attractive."
    The Commodores are losing five seniors— including four forwards— off a team that started 16-0 and was ranked in the national polls much of the year. The highlight came Feb. 26 with a win over then-No. 1 Tennessee. But Vandy was stunned by 13th seed Siena in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
    Taylor said he plans to return to Sweden on May 19 to work out with the professional team his father coaches. After that he'll spend about a month playing for the Swedish national team.
    "The opportunity to play (professionally) is there, and it always has been," he said. "I probably could have stayed and done that instead of coming here, but playing college ball is something I've always wanted to do. Now I've got my chance."