Tyshawn Taylor has become a little bit of everything for Kansas’ alumni team in The Basketball Tournament.
At Monday afternoon’s JHX meet-and-greet with fans at Morningstar’s Pizza in west Lawrence, the former KU combo guard summed it up with a grin: “General manager, assistant coach and 10th man,” Taylor said.
That’s the role the 6-foot-3, 185-pound Taylor has embraced while helping the Jayhawks prepare for Tuesday’s 8 p.m. TBT opener against Kansas State’s alumni team at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan.
The best-of-three series shifts to Washburn’s Lee Arena in Topeka for Game 2 at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Taylor made it clear he likes what JHX has put together. He pointed to a backcourt that includes Frank Mason III, Zeke Mayo, Mario Chalmers and Marcus Garrett, along with Washburn’s Jacob Hanna and Omaha’s Tra-Deon Hollins.
“I really love our team. Our backcourt is elite,” Taylor stated of Frank Mason III, Zeke Mayo, Mario Chalmers and Marcus Garrett, as well as Washburn’s Jacob Hanna and Omaha’s Tra-Deon Hollins.
“We aren’t a huge team but we’ve got bigs who can do a lot. We can space the floor.
We can defend with Marcus Garrett, who we’ve actually been trying to get the last three or four years.”
The frontcourt group features Washburn grad Andrew Orr and former KU players Kevin Young, Carlton Bragg, Billy Preston and Jamari Traylor. Preston had not arrived by Monday afternoon.
There’s also a bigger move ahead for Taylor beyond this TBT run. He said Monday that he has been hired as an assistant coach at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
“This means I get to coach some of the best young players in the country,” Taylor said. “I get to build relationships with college coaches because they’ll want to be recruiting these guys.
“I get to be on court and help develop some of these guys. For me, I think it’s really just about the relationship with the college coaches, with the agents, with the families, with these players.
So it’s going to be exciting for me. I get to just be a coach in high level basketball.
It’s not college, but right under.”
Taylor, who played at Kansas from the 2008-09 season through 2011-12, said he has already talked with Bill Self about the new job.
“Coach said he was really proud of me. He was excited for me,” said Taylor, who already has done some recruiting at AAU events and helped corral some top talent for IMG.
“He gave me some great advice on what to expect as far as coaching and how to carry myself as a coach. This is kind of like a resume builder for me.
Like I said, building those relationships with those college coaches already. Hopefully, I’m on the sideline of a college team at some point.”
Sherron Collins, the head coach of the KU alumni team and also the head coach at Oak Park High, said he’s happy to see Taylor land the opportunity. Collins said Taylor had been coaching with his Taylor Made Hoops organization and at Bishop Seabury Academy in Lawrence.
“I love it for Tyshawn,” Collins said. “It was really good to see him get that because he deserves it.
He’s smart. I think they got a gem for sure, and I hope he excels (at) it.
I’m rooting for him for sure.”
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