Black History Month: Trail Blazer (Podcast)
 
February is a time of reflection. GoMocs.com is looking back over the Chattanooga Mocs men's basketball program's history and chronicling Black History Month stories on those who had an impact on the success of the program in competition as well as the community.
 
This week's installment focuses on the unlikely trek a Chattanooga native made from the Scenic City to the national spotlight. It's not one that's been fully told, and I'm not sure we can do it justice, but it's time for the ole college try.
 
Mocs fans know that Johnny Taylor is the only Chattanooga Moc selected in the first round of the NBA Draft. There have been eight different student-athletes drafted on nine occasions with All-American Walter "Moose" McGary actually picked twice, once in 1973 and again in 1974.
 
But Taylor is the only first rounder. He was SoCon Player of the Year leading the squad to SoCon Division and Tournament Championships en route to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1997. How did he get to the University? It was a short distance in miles, but his route was most definitely the road less travelled.
 
Do you know or realize the path he had to take to get to Orlando with the 17th pick in 1997? Let's retrace that…Howard High School >>> Knoxville College >>> Hiwassee JC >>> Third-Shift Jobs >>> Indian Hills JC >>> Chattanooga.
 
He acknowledges the sudden growth, not just from being 5-10 as a sophomore to 6-6 as a senior at Howard, led to star power which got him away from his studies leading to a 9-game suspension during that final prep campaign. A lack of direction at that time hurt as well with a non-qualifying ACT score limiting options.
 
"There was very minimal recruitment at that time," Taylor shared. "Coach Henry Dickerson did try to send me to juco, but I didn't want to go at that time. That started those dominoes falling where I bounced from school to school.
 
"I still had that desire and passion to play Division I basketball, so I didn't give up. Once I got to juco and got the opportunity to play there, I made sure to cross all my T's and dot all my I's and not put myself in that situation again."
 
It was not easy to be sure. But that makes it all the more special in the end. Our favorite tale actually came from Maurio Hanson '95 who never actually paired with "JT" in a Mocs uniform, but fam is fam.
 
After the Mocs last SoCon game at Davidson, Hanson related his role in the process to "Voice of the Mocs" Jim Reynolds and me. He said they were playing pickup games in Maclellan and he threw an alley oop Grant Hill wouldn't have finished (for reference). Maurio turned around in disgust at throwing it away when he heard the house come down. As soon as he figured out JT not only caught that pass but thundered it home, he immediately walked out of the gym, crossed Mabel Street into the Roundhouse and straight to Coach Mack McCarthy's office. "You need to sign him!" Talent evaluation 101…
 
Taylor embarked on a long career in professional basketball after that special night watching his name called in the first round. It was kind of appropriate for the uber-talented player considering the way he got there. This is a man whose first flight was nervously boarding a plane to go to Indian Hills (Iowa) openly admitting his uncertainty in leaving the Scenic City. He became a world traveler.
 
Stops in Italy, Philippines, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Lebanon, Belgium, Japan, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates…he went everywhere. Taylor saw the world and played the game he loved. It's a fantastic basketball love story if it ended after a 15-year pro career. Spoiler alert, it's doesn't.
 
Now he teaches it. College stops at Chattanooga and VCU preceded honing his craft now on the sidelines in the G League with the Lakeland Magic. He's fantastic in this role connecting with a new era of ballers. Just ask former Moc & current Murray State staffer Ronrico White '15 who saw Taylor's impact during his junior season.
 
"He was a phenomenal resource for our entire team," White explained. "He's been in the NBA, played professionally and is a Chattanooga legend. He came in with no ego willing to work with anyone on the roster. You could see how much pride he had in giving back to the next generation.
 
"The stories he had and stories he told went beyond the basketball court."
 
If there is anything proven over his 46 trips around the sun, JT will make the most of every opportunity and continue to make Chattanooga – both his school and city – proud. We leave you with these final words summing up JT's path.
 
"If you truly want something," Johnny began. "If you really work had at it and go hard after it… you can achieve it. You just can't give up on it."