BWR Q&A: Tyshawn Taylor

Ahead of the Final Four, we chat with the star former Kansas point guard about making the Final Four, his dunk against Purdue, training, and more.

Tyshawn Taylor has been here before, literally. He and the 2012 Kansas Jayhawks were in New Orleans for the Final Four 10 years ago. And in a long line of great Kansas point guards, Taylor was among the most productive. In fact, only five Kansas players since 1992 have racked up at least 1,500 points and 550 assists in their careers. That group is Sherron Collins, Kirk Hinrich, Frank Mason, Devonté Graham, and Tyshawn Taylor. That’s a heck of a list.

So who better to help us get ready for the Final Four — and have some fun — than Tyshawn? Let’s get into it.

Kyle Davis: Ten years ago, you were in the Final Four as a player in New Orleans. Do you have a favorite memory from that weekend? Are you actually able to enjoy the city at all while you’re there?

Tyshawn Taylor: My favorite memory was just making it to the Final Four. All the excitement around it was amazing. All the attention. You don’t get much time to enjoy the process because you’re so focused on winning games.

© Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

KD: Several times, people have mentioned that this 2022 team is not one of Bill Self’s most talented or “best” teams. I also don’t hear much about the 2012 team being part of that group. But that squad made it closer to a title than anyone else since ’08. Did the 2012 team have anything the 2010 or 2011 teams didn’t? Or was it more than the tournament is unpredictable?

TT: So, top to bottom, I don’t think that 2012 team was one of Coach Self’s most talented teams. I do believe that because of that reason, all the guys knew their roles. Like everybody knew me and T-Rob (Thomas Robinson) were going to control the game. Elijah (Johnson) knew his role. Travis (Releford) played his role really well. Conner (Teahan) knew he was supposed to come in and shoot the ball. Jeff Withey was rebound, block shots, catch lobs. So, we all knew our role. We knew Thomas was the best player, so we knew he was going to dominate the ball, I was going to control the game, and everybody else just did their job.

I think that 2010-11 team, where you have so many good players, everybody wants to make the big play or everybody wants to make the right play. Everybody wants to take the big shot. And, yeah, that 2010 team with Xavier (Henry), Sherron (Collins), Cole (Aldrich), both twins (Marcus and Markieff Morris). T-Rob was a freshman, I believe. Eijah Johnson was a freshman, I believe. So, we just had a very talented team and, you know I think even Coach Self had his hands full at times because he had to play a lot of guys. He wanted to play a lot of guys. And his rotation was probably bigger than he wanted it to be. And so, yeah, that team was really talented but when it came down to it, all of the things that we got away with throughout the season kind of caught up with us late in March when it mattered the most.

That 2012 team also had Conner, myself, both seniors. Travis, a redshirt junior, so basically a senior, T-Rob a junior. Elijah a junior. Jeff a junior. So we had an older team. We had guys who had been in this situation before. Even that year, we had so many close games, playing from behind. Took a bunch of losses that we had to learn from and bounce back from. So, I think by tournament time, we were completely locked in. We were 100% locked in and things kind of went right for us, even late in the tournament with some of those games.

© Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

KD: You touched on this but I do feel like there are similarities between the 2012 and 2022 teams. Both had first-team All-Americans, multiple ball handlers, wings who could shoot and guard, a Teahan…not to mention you were both battle tested and proved you could win close. Do you see it as well?

TT: I absolutely see that comparison. Like you said, with your All-American having your guy, your dominant guy. For this year’s team it being Ochai, for our team it was T-Rob. And then you had your ball handlers, myself, Elijah, and this year you have Dajuan and Remy controlling the game. Also having, like you said, all those guards that knock down shots. You have your Ochai, you have your Christian, and then you just have guys like Jalen who reminds me of just that do-it-all type of player like Travis was for us or like a Kevin Young coming in and grabbing seven or eight rebounds, three or four being offensive, or being able to switch every position because he was just so versatile on the defensive end. So yeah, I see the similarities a lot, and yeah, like you said, just being battle tested, having to fight back from games.

© Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

KD: I don’t know if you know this, but your dunk against Purdue in the second round that year is a heavily debated topic amongst fans. I think I know where you stand, so instead, I’ll ask if you always knew you were going to dunk the whole time or if you ever considered trying to run out the clock?

TT: Yeah, I guess my whole, I knew I was going to dunk it from the beginning because when I got the ball, I didn’t know specifically how much time was left. I only knew we were up one point. So I didn’t know how much time was left and I also didn’t know how close the Purdue player was to me and I didn’t want him to foul me, stop the clock, and me have to go to the free-throw line only up one point. I would have rather them have one or two seconds left with us up three points, you know, kind of like the situation that we had than trying to dribble it back out, getting fouled, maybe missing a free throw. So, yeah, I get the points and if they hit a half-court shot then we go to overtime. I mean, that would have been tough, too, but I would have much rather that than getting to the line and missing a free throw and them just making a regular shot or a layup.

KD: That makes sense. And for the record, I am team dunk. So, I mentioned I try to keep these light. Now I have to ask another heavily debated topic amongst this group. Is a hot dog a sandwich?

TT: A hot dog is not a sandwich. It is not at all.

© Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports

KD: I like how definitive your answer is. Back to basketball, playing point guard at Kansas under Bill Self seems to come with a ton of rewards and pressure/challenges. And you were among the most accomplished under Self. Is there one story or example that gives us a sense of what that role and dynamic are like?

TT: It does come with a lot of pressure. Coach Self is a very demanding coach, as well as having, you know, a huge basketball IQ. So, as a point guard, you want to–he wants his point guards to be somewhat of an extension of him. See the game somewhat how he sees it. And when you’re in the game, playing at a fast pace, it’s hard to see what he sees from his point of view.

Yeah, it does come with a lot of pressure but he trusts you a lot if he puts that pressure on you, and he trusts you to control the game and to control the tempo and be an extension of him. So, I think those are the rewards it comes with as well.

© Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

KD: I only have three questions left and the last two are quick. But first, I did want to ask about what you’re up to now. I saw you have some camps and events coming up. Can you talk about how you got into training and starting Taylor Made Hoops?

TT: Yeah, for sure. So, obviously just all my years of basketball, all my experiences, all of the great coaches I’ve played for, all of the knowledge and stuff I’ve gained from the game, I want to be able to give it back. So, I came home after COVID and kind of had a chance to sit down for a while without having to play basketball and decided I wanted to go forward with maybe coaching or training. And that led me back to Lawrence because I had a young son who was playing. And yeah, it just kind of came naturally.

© William Purnell-USA TODAY Sports

KD: Another question I’ve asked everyone so far: in a two-on-two situation, you can pick one KU big man that came after you to be your teammate. Who are you taking?

TT: That’s a tough one. After me, so, yeah, Doke probably would be one of my favorites. Let me see, I played with some pretty good bigs, man. I’m a little biased. But I think Doke would have fit in with T-Rob and Jeff and the twins and Cole. Just a pick-and-roll action with him setting a good screen, we’d be hard to guard in a two-on-two situation.

KD: That’s what makes the question tough since you had some great ones, but Doke did come to mind. Do you have a prediction on how you see the weekend playing out?

TT: KU vs Nova – KU by four. Duke vs. UNC – Duke by two. And then KU vs. Duke – KU national champions. 

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