Terry Taylor’s NBA success a surprise to many, except to those who know him
INDIANAPOLIS (BVM) – Terry Taylor has been successful on the basketball court regardless of where he’s been. The Indiana Pacers forward may have come to the team through their G-League affiliate the Fort Wayne Mad Ants as an undrafted free agent, but by no means did his lack of being a draft pick impact Taylor’s ability to play the game at a high level and he has only continued to do so. After earning just his second career NBA start against the Denver Nuggets on March 30, Taylor impressed, scoring 19 points and nine rebounds, both good for second on the team.
“He’s a guy that is the quintessential working man. He came into this thing unheralded, undrafted, un-everything really and with one thing: an opportunity,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said after the Nuggets game. “He’s really a lot about what Indiana is about: the hard work, the commitment, the vision, the getting better and the unselfishness. He’s a super unselfish guy and very much beloved by his teammates.”
While Carlisle labeled his traits as what Indiana is about, Taylor earned those characteristics from his days growing up in neighboring Kentucky. As a high schooler in Bowling Green, Kentucky, Taylor established himself as one of the top players in the state early in his basketball career.
Over four seasons with the Bowling Green High School basketball team, Taylor would lead the Purples to four straight Kentucky High School Athletics Association Sweet 16s while putting up 1,704 points and 1,130 rebounds in his career. Taylor finished his Purples’ career with a 127-18 record.
Those statistics were the result of endless hard work and dedication to the craft of basketball, according to his high school head coach D.G. Sherrill.
“I’ve been a high school basketball coach for 27 years and I have not seen a kid who has worked on his craft, has been as dedicated as he has since I’ve known him,” Sherrill said. “So when you see the full body of work you see now, it’s really impressive. I think it goes back to an old school way of a young man who wouldn’t take no for an answer all the way through.”
After going to three straight state tournaments, Taylor and the Purples would finally get over the hump by winning the KHSAA state championship in March 2017. Taylor was at his best in his final state tournament, being named the Sweet 16 MVP after averaging 20.5 points and 10 rebounds.
Though his individual accolades were great with the Purples, Sherrill shares that those were never important to Taylor as he was more focused on team success.
“He never asked us one time to look at the book, he never talked about his statistics, he never talked about his shooting percentages, everything he talked about was team success,” Sherrill said. “What happened with the team? What was the team doing? The team was always the most important thing.”
Following his time at Bowling Green, Taylor would take his talents to the Division I level at Austin Peay State University of the Ohio Valley Conference. Though he had excellent talent, Taylor wasn’t highly recruited, much to the surprise of Sherrill.
“Terry could take a game completely over so I could not understand how these college coaches could see him play 10, 12, 14 times and just bypass him for kids who weren’t as close to as talented as he was and a lot of them have paid a heavy price because now you see the end result of what happened with Terry,” Sherrill said. “He was a professional basketball player all the way through and anywhere he would’ve gone he would’ve impacted that program at the same level he impacted Austin Peay.”
At APSU, Taylor would once again prove his drive to be the best.
Over his four years with the Governors, Taylor quickly rose to be the team’s best player and the top player in the OVC, being named first team All-OVC all four years, National Basketball Coaches Association All-District all four years, 2018 OVC Freshman of the Year and the OVC Player of the Year in both 2020 and 2021, becoming just the 15th player in OVC history to win multiple player of the year awards.
He finished his career as one of just five Governors players to ever score over 2,000 points with 1,000 rebounds and finished as the program’s all-time leading scorer with 2,507 points. In total, Taylor averaged 19.7 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists in his collegiate career.
After not getting drafted in the 2021 NBA Draft, Taylor would have to prove himself again, cutting his teeth with the G-League Mad Ants. However, he would do just that and then some quickly. In 11 games, Taylor averaged a double-double with 19.5 points and 12.2 rebounds per game. The star did so while averaging 33.6 minutes and shooting 68.3% from the field.
His strong play earned Taylor a two-way contract with the Pacers in December and since then has only trended upwards. So far this NBA season, Taylor has played in 31 games averaging 9.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 21.3 minutes per game. Taylor is also shooting the ball exceptionally well for a rookie, shooting at 62.6% from the field. Not bad for a guy whose coach once forgot where he played college basketball.
“I have [one of their shirts] in my office. Austin Peay. I’m well aware,” Carlisle said with a smile. “The only thing I like about that comment is it brought more attention to Terry Taylor. That’s a good thing.”
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#LetsGoPeay #TougherTogether | @TerryTaylor21 pic.twitter.com/XOw30jaOav— Austin Peay Men's Basketball (@GovsMBB) February 9, 2022
As the 2021-22 season comes to a close, it seems the Pacers have found a diamond in the rough in Taylor. On April 6, it was announced that the Pacers would convert Taylor’s contract to a standard, multi-year deal which will make him a part of the roster for years to come.
“Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.” John 13:7 God is Good! More work to be done 🤍🙏🏾 https://t.co/w3xo1V5QzF
— Terry Taylor (@TerryTaylor21) April 6, 2022
With his spot on the Pacers now secured for next season, don’t expect Taylor to rest on his laurels. As he has since his time in Bowling Green, expect Taylor to put in the extra work necessary to keep his professional career going.
“He’ll be a 10-12 year vet in the NBA because Terry’s going to help teams win, he’s going to do the things no one else on the team wants to do, he’s going to do it very quietly, very modestly but he’s going to do it very well,” Sherrill said. “He belongs. I’ve watched him play a couple of times live and he belongs. It doesn’t matter where he played before he got to this level, it matters what he’s doing now and with the opportunity he’s been given.
“There’s no end to the amount of work he’ll put in, it’s infinite of how much work he puts in and how much he really wants this. When you have a kid that’s still this hungry and still this humble, the opportunities are limitless.”
