An ODUSports Feature
Stats don’t always tell the story, and Denzell Taylor doesn’t let them define his.
“I’m not a big stats guy,” ODU’s towering junior forward emphatically declared. “I just like to win, and I’ll do whatever it takes to win. Nothing makes me happier than winning. End of story.”
Taylor’s story has plenty of pages left, though. Poised to begin his junior campaign, the Canadian-born rebound king, who even describes himself as somewhat of a basketball brute, playing with a mean, rough and grimy style on the court, has come into his own as a defensive specialist for the Monarchs. He often shuts down the opponents’ leading scorers and usually wears a prideful smile.
“It has become a trend for me throughout the past two seasons to shut down the other team’s best players,” he continued. “Ever since I started playing basketball in college, I’ve taken a lot of pride in that. I actually really enjoy playing defense. In addition to playing defense, smiling, laughing and having fun with my teammates is what I really love doing.”
Unfortunately, some of a team’s most pivotal plays that can make or break a season don’t show up in the stats or a news headlines. Nevertheless, it has not taken long for the key actors surrounding the ODU basketball program to recognize the indispensability of Denzell Taylor.
“He is the type of guy that every team needs,” noted Ted Alexander, the voice of the Monarchs. “A lunch-pail player that brings it every day while not worrying about his own stats, but only if his team is getting better. He does the dirty work that doesn’t show up in the box score but does in the win column.”
Similarly, head coach Jeff Jones, who brought ODU to the semifinals of the NIT at Madison Square Garden in just his second season at the helm, acknowledges just how special Taylor has been.
“Denzell is an elite defender. He may get overlooked sometimes because of how we play defense. He doesn’t always have the highest steal or blocked shot totals, but as a primary or help defender, Denzell does an amazing job for us,” says Jones.
It’s all pretty impressive for a guy who didn’t even start playing the game until the eighth grade.
“Growing up, my favorite sport was actually soccer,” Taylor remembers. “I eventually became too tall for that, and basketball was becoming really popular in Toronto because of Vince Carter and Chris Bosh. I decided to follow the trend and started taking it very seriously.”
It wasn’t until his junior year of high school after enrolling at St. Benedict’s Prep in New Jersey, where his father was living at the time, when Taylor recalls getting scholarship offers to play basketball in college. In the end, it was the family feel within the ODU basketball players and coaches that enticed him.
“Everyone was together and had a close-knit relationship compared to the other schools I visited. I decided ODU would be the best decision, and for the past two-plus years it has been great for me.”
Taylor has done his fair share for ODU basketball in those two years, too.
In his sophomore season, he led the Monarch squad in offensive rebounds and total rebounds, compiling 125 and 209, respectively. Taylor also finished second on the team in blocks with 23 and in steals with 37.
But remember, if stats don’t even begin to tell the story, then these figures lend credence to how impactful Taylor’s contributions to ODU basketball have been.
One of his best games to date came against All Conference USA honoree George Fant and Western Kentucky, who Taylor repeatedly stifled in the Monarchs’ 75-52 victory that extended their home-winning streak to 21 straight wins. Taylor’s stellar defensive performance helped limit Fant to just nine shots, while the prolific Hilltopper turned the ball over seven times. To the average fan, none of Fant’s stats relay what type of game Taylor played, an intangible the ODU forward never would bring up on his own.
In the Monarchs’ buzzer-beater victory over Murray State in the NIT quarterfinals that propelled them to the Madison Square Garden, Taylor’s five rebounds and five assists were nothing compared to his semifinal berth-preserving shot block.
Among many other notable accolades, Taylor also tied a career-high 12 rebounds against UNCW and hauled down nine rebounds in the NIT-opening win over Charleston Southern. In another impressive showing, he blocked a crucial shot in the overtime victory over Georgia State and was also featured on ESPN for slamming down the No. 8 Dunk of the Day.
Despite all of the accomplishments, Taylor is not satisfied for himself or his team.
“I am still working to have a better all-around game. I want to become more of a vocal leader and also hone my offensive game. Finding little aspects of the game to improve on while remaining humble is essential. The team is starting to get a lot of hype, so the tendency might be to get big-headed. We need to stay grounded and push each other in practice because no matter what, how you practice is how you play.”
Perhaps his emphasis on humility is the chief motivation for his selfless style of play. Combined with his win-at-all-costs mentality, the two approaches have culminated to mold the defensive backbone of an up-and-coming Monarch basketball squad that will be eyeing its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2011 and its first ever trip under Jeff Jones’ tutelage.
“We should have been there last year, but we shot ourselves in the foot,” Taylor remarked. “That’s in the past now. We want to make it to the NCAA Tournament this year. And not just this year, but every year. We want to be a team that consistently makes noise on the national scene.”
And if Taylor’s plan to vocalize his leadership comes to fruition, too, eardrums across Monarch Nation will be ringing this basketball season.