T.J. Taylor to Marquette

[Sam]

Per his facebook page and multiple tweets I've seen on twitter. All social networking stuff but I bet its true.

 

[WTSooner]

Weren't they high on his list the first time around?

Hope it works out for him.

 

[Sam]

Yeah, Marquette loves to recruit DFW area guards, looks like he will be at Paris in 2011-2012 then go to Marquette as a 2012 recruit with 3 years to play.

 

[StoopsBros]

T.J. Taylor has given an oral commitment to join the Marquette Golden Eagles' 2012-'13 recruiting class, he confirmed on Monday night.

The 6-foot-4, 220-pound combination guard comes to MU by way of the University of Oklahoma, where he spent the first semester last season before transferring to Paris (Tex.) Junior College.

Taylor, a native of Denison, Tex., will play at Paris next season, and then have three years' eligibility once he arrives at MU.

"They were one of the first ones to recruit me in high school, and they were real consistent," he said. "I felt very strongly about the University of Oklahoma at the time. Things didn’t work out and they came right back in the picture and picked right up where they left off."

Taylor's transfer preceded the ouster of coach Jeff Capel, who was replaced in March by Lon Kruger. He suffered a concussion early in pre-season workouts, and was planning on redshirting before deciding to leave.

"I just moved on," he said when asked why he transferred. "I’m just excited about MU and Coach (Buzz) Williams."

Taylor also didn't want to elaborate on the concussion, which reports said was bad enough that he wasn't able to attend Oklahoma home games because of sensitivity issues.

"It was just something that happened, and now I’m healthy," he said. "Part of the game."

Since moving on to Paris JC, Taylor was receiving plenty of interest from other high-major schools but apparently wasn't interested in a long, drawn-out recruiting process.

"Because I don’t have much time to waste," he said when asked about the timing. "I wanted to get it off my chest."

Paris coach Chuck Taylor elaborated.

"They were the only ones (he considered), really," he said." There were a ton of schools that called and showed interest, but Marquette re-established the relationship they had with him in high school. You could see that from the phone conversations, how his eyes lit up when they saw him (on visits).

"Other schools offered him, however he felt comfortable with Marquette. We talked long and extensively about this decision. He just came back with the same answer every time: 'I’m comfortable with them.' His mom wanted him to go there out of high school, but he went to Oklahoma.

"He got an opportunity to go back, he's comfortable with them, and that’s what he wants to do. Now he's going to focus on his academics."

Taylor was a three-time all-state selection at Denison High School, where he finished as the all-time leading scorer with 2,630 points. He averaged 20.7 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists as a senior, and was named MVP of the 2010 Texas High School Coaches All-Star Game.

Taylor was also ranked No. 78 nationally by ESPN.com and the No. 16 point guard overall in the Class of 2010.

He'll play the 1, 2 and 3 at Paris next season -- the three spots he'll likely be asked to play at MU once he arrives as well.

"He’s totally unselfish, yet he really knows he can take over a basketball game whenever he wants to," Chuck Taylor said. "He can really shoot the basketball. He can shoot it and shoot it deep. That’s something that he’ll definitely be able to bring to the table.

"Guys don’t understand how hard he’s worked since he’s been here. He came in out of shape, rusty, and he’s gotten himself back into really, really good shape now. He’s 6-4, 220, 225, and he’s all muscle. Some of the things he's done athletically are unbelievable.

"He's quick, athletic and can really shoot the basketball."

Taylor, like Jimmy Butler, Jae Crowder and Darius Johnson-Odom before him, has yet to make a visit to the MU campus. Yet Chuck Taylor said the reputation Williams has within the basketball community in Texas more than helps bridge that gap.

"Let me tell you something: You've got one hell of a basketball coach there in regards to making people really comfortable with him," he said. "He's genuine, he's sincere, and his track record of players he's brought in from this area speaks volumes. That’s the biggest part of why student-athletes from this area are able to make those kinds of commitments, because of those things."

Taylor joins Virginia guard Jamal Ferguson in MU's 2012-'13 class. MU also has one scholarship left in the 2011-'12 class.

The spring signing period runs through May 18.


http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/121133129.html

 

[sperry]

Why did TJ leave OU in the first place? I was very excited about him.

 

[MsProudSooner]

Why did TJ leave OU in the first place? I was very excited about him.

That's one of the mysteries of last year.

 

[skyvue]

There were reports that he was not well tended to following his concussions, that he was all but ignored by the coaching and training staff and generally left to his own devices at what was a difficult time for him.

I have no idea if those reports were true, but if they were, I felt at the time and still feel that they were as bad a reflection on Coach Capel and Co. as any accounts of his tenure in Norman.

But again, I'm not claiming they were true. I have no idea.

 

[realdallassooner]

I don't mess with concussions anymore. I had a player get one this past season around Christmas, she had to spend a little time in the hospital a couple weeks after she received it because she wasn't getting any better; she missed the rest of the season all of the softball season and still hasn't been cleared.

Too top that off my dad slipped and fell on the ice the first of February and basically the same deal, long stay in the hospital and long recovery. Concussions are no joke.

 

[MsProudSooner]

There were reports that he was not well tended to following his concussions, that he was all but ignored by the coaching and training staff and generally left to his own devices at what was a difficult time for him.

I have no idea if those reports were true, but if they were, I felt at the time and still feel that they were as bad a reflection on Coach Capel and Co. as any accounts of his tenure in Norman.

But again, I'm not claiming they were true. I have no idea.

Years ago, I remember reading an article where a coach (Switzer maybe) said you have to keep 'recruiting' a freshman through first semester of his freshman year because they aren't really fully a member of the team yet. I suspect that would be doubly true of a freshman who suffers an injury before the season even starts.

 

[ousooners1baby]

I think I know what kind of player T.J. will be for Marquette. For this I will never forgive Jeff Capel.

 

[sperry]

There were reports that he was not well tended to following his concussions, that he was all but ignored by the coaching and training staff and generally left to his own devices at what was a difficult time for him.

I have no idea if those reports were true, but if they were, I felt at the time and still feel that they were as bad a reflection on Coach Capel and Co. as any accounts of his tenure in Norman.

But again, I'm not claiming they were true. I have no idea.

Wow. I've always been a big supporter of Coach Capel, but if that's true, I've lost a lot of respect for him. I know he didn't do the best coaching job ever, but I never would have expected him to be that stupid.

 

[Tony]

There were reports that he was not well tended to following his concussions, that he was all but ignored by the coaching and training staff and generally left to his own devices at what was a difficult time for him.

I have no idea if those reports were true, but if they were, I felt at the time and still feel that they were as bad a reflection on Coach Capel and Co. as any accounts of his tenure in Norman.

But again, I'm not claiming they were true. I have no idea.

The only reports that said that, as far as I know, were from someone on this board who was either a friend or family member of TJ Taylor. That has never passed the smell test with me.

OUguy11, who has regularly been correct about things going on in the program, said that TJ Taylor had become a serious discipline problem. That has always been the much more plausible scenario.

 

[MsProudSooner]

The only reports that said that, as far as I know, were from someone on this board who was either a friend or family member of TJ Taylor. That has never passed the smell test with me.

OUguy11, who has regularly been correct about things going on in the program, said that TJ Taylor had become a serious discipline problem. That has always been the much more plausible scenario.

Was he a discipline problem before the concussion?

 

[Tony]

Was he a discipline problem before the concussion?

It's a fair question, and I really do not know.

 

[skyvue]

OUguy11, who has regularly been correct about things going on in the program, said that TJ Taylor had become a serious discipline problem. That has always been the much more plausible scenario.

You may be right, but honestly, that doesn't really pass the smell test with me. Of all the clowns, malcontents, and underachievers we had drift through the program during Capel's years in Norman, I'm to believe it was TJ who crossed the line, who proved to be the final straw, the one Coach Capel just could not abide? TJ, who expressed more enthusiasm about being a Sooner prior to his arrival in Norman than any other recruit I can think of during the Capel era?

I don't pretend to know, but that just doesn't ring true to me.

Who knows, there may be truth in both accounts. Or in neither. I guess we'll never know.

But if we're to believe that, after his departure, TJ was concocting false, negative tales of his brief time in Norman, that's a big turnaround from the enthusiastic new Sooner who arrived just months earlier. This wasn't, to our knowledge, a me-first, selfish kind of guy like some of the others -- this was a kid who expressed great enthusiasm about getting to don the crimson and cream. If he became a bad apple who couldn't wait to leave OU (or was, perhaps, shown the door), what caused such a drastic turnaround in his attitude and behavior?

 

[jerry]

There were reports that he was not well tended to following his concussions, that he was all but ignored by the coaching and training staff and generally left to his own devices at what was a difficult time for him.

I have no idea if those reports were true, but if they were, I felt at the time and still feel that they were as bad a reflection on Coach Capel and Co. as any accounts of his tenure in Norman.

But again, I'm not claiming they were true. I have no idea.

Would not be a surprise.

 

[DenverSooner]

This entire deal with T.J. sucks. I was really excited about him as a player. I wish it had worked out.

 

[Tony]

Of all the clowns, malcontents, and underachievers we had drift through the program during Capel's years in Norman, I'm to believe it was TJ who crossed the line, who proved to be the final straw, the one Coach Capel just could not abide?

You can believe whatever you would like, but you are responding to an argument I am not making. The reality is that TJ Taylor was not THE ONE who "Capel just could not abide."

Chris Early.

Bobby Maze.

Kyle Cannon.

I know for a fact Ray Willis would not have been been welcomed back last year.

Your interpretation of my post is that Jeff Capel never disciplined or dismissed any player other than TJ Taylor. That is absurd.

But if we're to believe that, after his departure, TJ was concocting false, negative tales of his brief time in Norman, that's a big turnaround from the enthusiastic new Sooner who arrived just months earlier. This wasn't, to our knowledge, a me-first, selfish kind of guy like some of the others -- this was a kid who expressed great enthusiasm about getting to don the crimson and cream. If he became a bad apple who couldn't wait to leave OU (or was, perhaps, shown the door), what caused such a drastic turnaround in his attitude and behavior?

I don't know! Maybe his concussion caused him to be depressed! Maybe he fell in with the wrong crowd! Maybe he realized Jeff Capel was a lousy coach! I have no idea, and frankly it seems silly to speculate.

But I know people who are parents. Almost all of them, if a coach and institution had been reckless in dealing with medical procedures relating to their kid, would raise absolute hell. We had none of that. No interviews, no lawsuits, no nothing. Just one random person showing up on a message board for a couple days. Sorry, not convinced, and frankly it seems irresponsible to lay such serious charges without better evidence.

 

[skyvue]

frankly it seems irresponsible to lay such serious charges without better evidence.

Fair enough. Of course, I didn't make such charges. I merely stated that they had been made, and repeated more than once that I had no idea if they were true. Perhaps it was irresponsible of me to have even cited those rumors, but then you probably had no business doing roughly the same thing regarding an accusation against TJ.

Whatever the cause, Taylor's name was added to the very lengthy roster of Capel's players who, one way or the other, didn't remain in Norman very long. Capel may well have been, in a strictly technical sense, not responsible for any of their departures. They may, every one of them, have deserved to be shown the door.

If so, that just leaves me regretting they ever set foot in Norman in the first place and wondering how Capel could have so badly misjudged the character and work ethic of so many young men.

 

[Written]

Whatever the cause, Taylor's name was added to the very lengthy roster of Capel's players who, one way or the other, didn't remain in Norman very long. Capel may well have been, in a strictly technical sense, not responsible for any of their departures. They may, every one of them, have deserved to be shown the door.

If so, that just leaves me regretting they ever set foot in Norman in the first place and wondering how Capel could have so badly misjudged the character and work ethic of so many young men.

And that my friends, is the ultimate takeaway. For whatever reasons, we had a lot of players come through here who were heralded as "very talented" and for whatever reasons they "weren't a fit."

Be it through missed evalution or mishandling, it didn't work out and those kinds of misses in recruiting falls on the coach.