When freshman guard RJ Taylor steps onto the court, he’s nothing if not a spark plug. In his own words, he’s the “Road Runner” or “Energizer Bunny” of the team, and anyone who’s seen his aggressive defense and the elevated rhythm he plays with would agree.
“I’m someone that kind of just always has the motor going up. I can use my speed as my advantage and try to be all over the court,” he said.
Taylor, hailing from Grand Blanc, Michigan, appeared in 30 games this past year as a true freshman, averaging just over 12 minutes of playing time. While he’s just one year into a promising start as a Panther, his connection to basketball goes back to day one.
He is the fifth person in his immediate family to play college basketball, following his mother, father and two older sisters. His dad, Bob Taylor, coached women’s basketball at Oakland University before moving to Northwood University, a private college in Midland, Michigan, where Taylor’s older sisters played.
“People always ask me when I started playing, and I can’t really answer it,” Taylor said. “I was crawling while my dad was coaching his college team and stuff like that. I kind of always had the ball in my hand and grew up playing with my sisters in the yard.”
While following in his family’s footsteps to play in college may have been the natural choice, it was the people at UNI that drew him to Cedar Falls.
“The relationships were very important between both the staff and the team,” Taylor said. “I feel like it fit me as who I am both on and off the court very well.”
The 5’11” guard averaged two points per game, with a season high six points in an early season game against Loras College. Though the season ended not long ago, Taylor is already looking to be an even bigger factor on the court next season.
“I’ve kind of already started with setting my goals and setting my workouts and my habits in accordance to it,” he said. “And so just getting stronger is one big thing and even faster and stronger, but also just working on working on everything. Obviously as someone that wants to have a bigger role next year, I keep getting a lot of shots up every day to become a better shooter and become a better everything. I just try to absorb as much as I can.”
With seven players in the transfer portal, the Panthers’ roster will be a bit shaken up next year. However, Taylor says the returning players are feeling anything but.
“I think if you ask all of us, I think we’re feeling pretty good about it,” Taylor said. “Obviously, you have friends and guys that you’ve sweat a lot with. They are obviously leaving but at the same time, we have a lot of confidence in who we are and what our coaching staff can do to bring in and rebuild our program.”
