ELON, N.C. – It is a rare occurrence for a head coach to receive two celebratory Gatorade showers for stringing back-to-back wins together early in the season. However, no one was more deserving than
Billy Taylor after what he accomplished last week.
"It's one of those moments that you could go your whole coaching career and never have an opportunity like that," Taylor said.
With the Elon University men's basketball team's last true non-conference road victory coming in 2018, the Phoenix decimated Northern Illinois 75-48 on Wednesday, Nov. 20 en route to its first since. Following the statement win, the team celebrated the milestone achievement for their coach.
After leaving Dekalb, Illinois later that night, the Phoenix headed three hours east to South Bend, Indiana where an undefeated ACC opponent in Notre Dame – which is also Taylor's alma mater – awaited Elon for a Friday night matchup.
As the team entered the back garage door in Purcell Pavilion on Thursday – where opposing teams Taylor faced in college would enter – memories of his playing days flooded back. While walking through the cavities of the arena to get to the court, he passed his old locker room from when he played for the Fighting Irish from 1992-95.
"We walked past it, because that's not for me anymore," Taylor laughed.
When the team was leaving the shootaround on Friday morning, Taylor turned to two of his staff members, Ryan Saunders and
Sean Halloran, to proclaim a shocking statement to them before leaving the court.
"I haven't even taken a shot in the gym yet," Taylor said.
"They were like, 'Coach, you have to take a shot,'" Taylor recalled of Saunders and Halloran. "'You're back here, you have to take a shot.'"
After some mild persuasion, while also ensuring that nobody would have time to capture the moment on picture or video, Taylor caught a pass from his assistants and rose up to shoot a basketball on the Notre Dame court for the first time in two decades.
"They threw me the ball. I took it. I said, right about here is good, about 17 feet away, and I knocked it down," Taylor said. "And Troy [Sayles] didn't even have time to get his camera out. I said, 'That's it. I'm done. One shot. Done.'"
Former Notre Dame head coach Digger Phelps, who recruited Taylor and is still "family" to him, talked to the Phoenix team in the locker room before the game. Although Taylor felt nostalgic to be back, once the ball was tipped, he cut ties with the Fighting Irish until the final horn sounded.
The Phoenix never trailed by more than eight. Its potent offensive attack – against the ACC's third most effective field goal defense nonetheless – was led by sophomore guard Nick Dorn, who scored 24 points and sank five three-pointers.
Elon closed the final two minutes of the game on a 10-2 run, thanks to efforts from Dorn, sophomore forward Isaac Harrell and sophomore guard
TJ Simpkins, who took the lead for good at the 2:11 mark. Simpkins scored another layup with :26 seconds left to make it a two-possession game, then went a perfect 4-4 from the charity stripe to seal Elon's 84-77 victory.
The win marked Elon's first over a Power Four opponent since the 2012-13 season when the Phoenix beat South Carolina. Additionally, it also meant Elon had earned a victory over an ACC opponent for the first time in 19 years, when the maroon and gold downed Clemson during the 2005-06 campaign.
When the clock hit 0:00, Taylor did not immediately begin to celebrate one of, if not the biggest win of his coaching career. Instead, he went directly to the handshake line to greet the Notre Dame coaches and players with class.
As he left the court, Taylor's emotions flooded back in as he took a beat to process what he just accomplished.
"I had to take a deep breath many times to grasp everything that was going on," Taylor said.
Taylor explained that the coaching profession often gets him stuck in a next-play mindset. When the final buzzer sounded, Taylor said he felt like there was still more work to be done.
"We were still kind of focused on, 'There's got to be more,'" Taylor said. "Because the game was so tight for a long time, and then once we got some separation and made our free throws and won the game, it's like, 'What's next? What do we need to do?'"
Now 17 years deep into coaching, Taylor said that his ties to Notre Dame, with friends and family, in addition to some of the same security guards and beat writers from his time with the Fighting Irish in attendance, made the win one of the most "uniquely special moments" in his career.
"It means so much to play against my alma mater," Taylor said.
Taylor said he hopes this is not just a one-off type of win for the Phoenix. Although this can be considered a program-defining win, it is clear he is working to establish a foundation for a program built to last.
"We're hoping that we are creating a legacy," Taylor said. "We're putting Elon's name in a different context than it's been presented before, and it's exciting for our program."
Once Taylor finished his media obligations and returned to the confines of a joyous locker room, the inevitable occurred. It was time for Taylor's second Gatorade shower in less than 48 hours.
"They got me both times, and they got even a little bit better the second time through," Taylor laughed. "It was fun."
"[We] wanted to take some time to be able to let down and enjoy the moment," Taylor added. "Because we don't get a lot of opportunities to catch our breath and put into perspective what that type of win against a Power Four opponent means for our basketball program and hopefully for our university."
When the team returned to campus early Saturday morning, Taylor said the emotions that came with the successful road swing, while surreal, had drained him.
"I was emotionally exhausted after the trip," Taylor said.
Both his father, the late Dennis Taylor, and mother attended Northern Illinois. Taylor said he scheduled the game against his parents' alma mater to honor his dad, who was instrumental in his decision to attend Notre Dame and pursue a career in coaching.
Because his father passed away last September, Taylor said following the victory at NIU up with one against Notre Dame created an additional layer of emotions. Taylor explained there were no words he believed could accurately convey what he was feeling following Friday's win to his father.
"I just know that the joy and the pride that he would have had in that moment, in that opportunity, the celebration with family, and I know it would have meant a whole lot to him, it would have really been special to him," Taylor said.
Since his graduation, Notre Dame has earned 13 trips to the NCAA tournament and made two Elite Eight appearances. With improvements to the facilities in that time frame too – noting the "beautiful" arena, the addition of a Jumbotron and chairback seating – it is clear that Taylor still has pride for a program he has not officially been a part of since his stint as an assistant coach from 1998-99.
"It's a sense of pride as a former player, to see where the program is now, compared to way back when I was playing," Taylor said.
After practice on Thursday, Taylor took the team to see several historic spots on Notre Dame's campus, such as the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes and the Golden Dome.
"That's really what I wanted our guys to be able to experience, we don't get a chance to do that every road trip," Taylor said.
"Sometimes in the moment, they don't appreciate it as much as they may 20 years from now when they tell stories of places that they went," Taylor added. "And it's like, 'Wow, you went to the Grotto at Notre Dame, or you went to the Golden Dome.' That's pretty impressive. It's not something that everybody gets a chance to do."
With the win, Elon moves to 3-2 on the season. Taylor noted though the early season success has been enjoyable, the Phoenix are still 0-0 in the CAA. However, because the Phoenix were picked to finish 12th out of 14 teams in the conference preseason poll, he believes the league wide doubt has allowed his ball club to play with extra motivation.
"People didn't really value our team or our players that highly, and our guys have come out and played with an edge and with tenacity," Taylor said. "We've got extreme confidence. They believe in us as a coaching staff, and likewise, we believe in them as players."
The Phoenix will play three games in as many days this weekend at the Cathedral Classic Invitational in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania which will begin with a tilt against Maine (3-3) on Friday, Nov. 29 at 2 p.m.
'Rising Phoenix' is a student-led initiative to cover Elon Athletics. Through innovative content creation and storytelling, Elon University students will have the opportunity to highlight the moments, people and events that make an impact, leveraging the athletic department's various web and social media platforms for distribution. Follow Rising Phoenix on X (@EURisingPhoenix) and Instagram (@elonrisingphoenix). Interested in joining this initiative as a content creator (video, graphics, writing, storytelling, or more)? Contact Chase Strawser at cstrawser@elon.edu.
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