Perspective: The guy who coached Zion Williamson and Ja Morant is out here selling houses
By Jerry Brewer Jerry Brewer Sports columnist Email Bio Follow Columnist March 23 at 5:38 PM COLUMBIA, S.C. — The luckiest man in basketball is a 50-year-old real estate agent. It’s Saturday, a big day for business, so Ricky Taylor can’t squeeze in hoops talk until after a three-hour morning meeting.
Today, Williamson is the Duke pre-professional approaching levels of basketball popularity known only by LeBron James and Stephen Curry. Morant, the mesmerizing Murray State guard whose remarkable sophomore season ended Saturday with a blowout loss to Florida State, has emerged as the sport’s next great point guard. The two South Carolinians could be the first two picks of the NBA draft in June.
Taylor could see the future pro in Williamson even then, because as a 15-year-old he was 6-foot-3 and 200-plus pounds. He didn’t know he would grow to 6-7 and 280, but Williamson was too powerful and jumped too high to be ignored. Williamson was also humble. He revered the older Shuler. A player from the opposing team seemingly had a breakaway dunk, but Williamson dashed in, jumped higher and pinned the shot against the backboard with two hands. The crowd went bonkers. Then a referee blew his whistle and called a foul.
Taylor admits he didn’t do a lot of coaching that summer. Because the Hornets were so good, he had his ninth- and 10th-graders play against some of the nation’s best 11th-graders all summer, and he estimates they still won about 90 percent of their games. With Shuler’s scoring, Williamson’s explosiveness and Morant’s passing and leadership, they always had an edge.He was more than a hype man, actually.
“I’ll tell you what: It does blow my mind,” Taylor said. “I feel very, very fortunate to have coached them. I feel like the luckiest guy in basketball right now.
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