Indiana Target Justin Taylor Commits to Syracuse
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – It was Justin Taylor's birthday on Saturday, but it was Syracuse that got to blow out the candles.
Taylor, a highly coveted 6-foot-6 wing man from Charlottesville, Va., committed to Jim Boeheim and the Orange on Saturday. Taylor, a four-star guard in the most recent composite rankings who is ranked No. 84 nationally, had just taken an official visit to Indiana two weeks ago, and had the Hoosiers in his final five. He was a priority target for Mike Woodson and his staff.
Taylor's stock has risen dramatically in the past year, with major high-major offers showing up recently. Indiana assistant coach Kenya Hunter had been recruiting him for a while, even before the coaching change where Mike Woodson took over for Archie Miller.
Taylor took his official visit to Indiana the weekend of June 15-17 and appeared to have a great time in Bloomington. He also took officials to North Carolina and Syracuse, and an unofficial visit to in-state school Virginia Tech. He's a Charlottesville native, so he's been to the University of Virginia often, too.
He also had offers from N.C. State, Maryland, Marquette, Connecticut and Butler, among others. Virginia Tech and Syracuse all offered that summer.
Taylor talked to my Sports Illustrated Syracuse colleague Mike McAllister after the commitment. Here are the highlights of what he had to say, including comments on Indiana and how he's going to continue recruiting other priority Indiana targets like Kyle Filipowski. They visted Bloomington the same weekend:
Q: Why Syracuse?
Taylor: "It really just boiled down to relationships I built with the coaching staff. To have the opportunity to play for a Hall of Fame coach in coach Boeheim and then develop with coach G-Mac (Gerry McNamara). Just when I was on the visit, it really felt like home. Hanging out with the guys, walking around campus. It was just the perfect opportunity for me too coming in as a freshman. Having a good role for me with Buddy (Boeheim) leaving. All the pieces just fell into place, I think. It was the best fit for me."
When did you know Syracuse was the right fit?
Taylor: "Honestly it was on the visit. I think it was the second day, my mom and I met with coach Boeheim and G-Mac in the film room. They made a video for me that brought us through their program and then had videos of me and videos of some players in the past. It was then I could see it visually. This was the place for me. Talking with coach G-Mac and coach Boeheim, it just felt like the right place for me. I took the Indiana visit after, but I think after I took all three, no visit felt better than Syracuse. I talked to my mom, talked to my trainer and it just felt like the best place for me."
Who are you helping recruit to join you at Syracuse?
Taylor: "I've talked to both Kyle Flip (Filipowski) and Quadir (Copeland), they're both my guys. I talk to them a ton. I haven't had a chance yet, but I'm definitely going to hit them up tonight. I've been talking to them a lot so I think they probably knew. I've been talking to Quadir a lot, he loved his visit. Just got back from his and obviously Kyle took his right before mine. I think they both loved it. I think we could build a really, really special class.
To read the complete interview on our sister site, AllSyracuse.com, CLICK HERE
Taylor had all sorts of nice things to say about Woodson and the Hoosiers after his vist, but it wasn't quite enough.
“It was a really good visit. He (Woodson) just has so much basketball knowledge and experience. I think he can bring a lot to Indiana,'' Taylor told The Daily Hoosier. My class will be the first that he recruited to Indiana himself, so I think it is super important to him to get the guys that he wants. He’s big on shooters and that’s why I’ve been a priority for them with being able to make an impact for them right away with shooting the ball because that’s what they need — they need scorers. So I’d say the thing that stood out to me the most was just talking to Coach Woodson.”
“It has been kind of weird on these visits because you feel like you know all these coaches so well but you haven’t met any of them in person, so it was good to see (Indiana assistant Kenya Hunter) live and not through texting or a call but actually just seeing him in person, walking around campus, going out to eat and stuff like that, so it was good.”
Filipowski, a 6-foot-11 power forward with range who was the Massachusetts Player of the Year last season. was on the same visit, and the two are close. He has also made official visits to Duke, Iowa and Ohio State this month, and his decision is expected to come soon as well.
There's no way of knowing how much Taylor's commitment to Syracuse means to Filipowski.
Kyle Filipowski and Justin Taylor took official visits to Indiana together just two weeks ago. (Instagram photo)
Indiana has a full complement of 13 scholarship players on their roster presently, and have one commitment thus far in the 2022 class in C.J. Gunn, a guard from Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis.
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