Syracuse Signee Justin Taylor Takes in First Basketball Game in the Dome
Syracuse basketball signee Justin Taylor attended Saturday's game against Virginia in the Carrier Dome. AllSyracuse.com caught up with Taylor after his visit to see how it went.
"This was my first time seeing a basketball game in the Dome, since we came for a football game for my official earlier this year," Taylor said. "It was a lot of fun, though, just experiencing the atmosphere and being around all the fan base as well as getting to meet some of the players' families. Obviously the atmosphere was a little different without students there, but it was still electric in there.
"This was really the only game I was able to come to with my schedule at IMG, so it worked out well as I was still on break."
During his official visit, Taylor was mistaken for Buddy Boeheim on multiple occasions. This time around, that was not the case but he still felt the love from Orange fans.
"I wasn’t mistaken for Buddy this time," Taylor said. "The fans were incredible though. The second I walked into the Dome I felt the love from them as they were coming up to me wishing me luck next year, asking for pictures, autographs and everything. Just makes me that more eager to play for a fan base like that."
During the visit, Taylor also spent time speaking with the Syracuse coaches.
"After the game, G-Mac took us back into the locker room and we met with coach Boeheim and the whole coaching staff," Taylor said. "Coach basically just talked about his thoughts on the game and the team as a whole up until this point in the season. You know, what he liked and what they were still working on to get better. He also talked about how much he’s looking forward to me and the rest of this 2022 class coming in and getting to work in the summer. He thinks the future is definitely bright with the guys that will return next year and then us five guys coming in.
"Talked also about the offense and how much defenses are keying in on Buddy, yet he’s still able to get a basket basically any time he wants. He wanted to make sure I watched him closely."
The visit and his game day experience only further solidified that he made the right decision signing with Syracuse.
"Oh 100%," Taylor said. "I just know that I can trust the entire coaching staff and I’m going to love playing for them and with the other guys that are returning. And like I said, i can’t wait to play in front of a fan base like Syracuse."