A different look at Mr. 138 Points - Jack Taylor

REGENSBURG (David Hein’s Eye on the Future) - What do NBA superstar LeBron James, the town of Black River Falls, Wisconsin, the co-founder of Intel Robert Noyce, the former Vice President of Sudan John Garang, jazz musician Herbie Hancock, the late NBA great Wilt Chamberlain, true team spirit and a possible let-down all have in common?

Well, by reading the headline you can guess.

Yes, Jack Taylor. The overnight sensation sophomore guard from NCAA Division III Grinnell College who took over the Twitter universe and internet world after scoring a NCAA record 138 points in a single game and had people who don't usually talk about basketball actually talking hoops.

Grinnell definitely celebrated the feat - with a commemorative opener to its Athletics section of the website.

Let’s not repeat the numbers, which everyone has already discussed and dissected - though the 108 shots Taylor took sprouted the fantastic quote from Carmelo Anthony, a well-known shooter of the rock, who joked that from now on when someone asks if he's taking too many shots, he'll mention "that someone shot it 108 times".

Instead, let’s tackle this accomplish from other angles.

Of course…it’s an amazing feat. One that really is only imaginable in video games.

LeBron James? He wants to see the game. He wants to get a copy of Grinnell College’s historic 179-104 win over Faith Baptist Bible. James said the two games he would love to see are the one in which Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points - a game that happened 50 years ago early this year - and, as he put it: “this kid. I want to see him, too. Sir Jack.”

Sir Jack? From the King? Wow.

Wow, exactly. That’s what Kobe Bryant said: “Wow. That’s impressive. That's crazy. I don't care what level you're at. Scoring 138 points is pretty insane.” The Lakers star knows a thing or two about scoring, having dropped 81 points on the Toronto Raptors on January 22, 2006.

So, while the rest of the world was talking Taylor and his 3.83 points per minute performance, what was going on back in Black River Falls, Wisconsin - the 3,600-resident listed home town of the 22-year-old Taylor?

Well the website of the Jackson County Chronicle in Black River Falls led with the opening of the deer hunting season and a prison inmate threatening a wrong judge. At least the Black River Falls News section of topix.com mentioned Taylor’s performance, only to have a story about a fire captain and fire lieutenant being fined for illegal political contributions underneath the headline.

Coming from a small town, Taylor sought out a small town for his college education in Grinnell, Iowa - home to about 9,200. Calling itself the “Jewel of the Prairie”, Grinnell is where Robert Noyce, the co-founder of Intel, grew up. Like Taylor, Noyce also went to Grinnell College, a liberal arts college with a tradition in social activism. As did jazz musician Herbie Hancock as well as Garang, who later became Vice President of Sudan.

Obviously, it’s clear what Taylor has in common with Chamberlain, who scored 100 points on March 2, 1962 - long, long before the world of Facebook and Twitter and smart phones. Have you ever seen any footage of Wilt scoring his 100 against the Knicks? Of course not. It’s just him holding up that silly sign with “100” hand-written on it. Now, just days later, it's possible to watch the entire game online - even if it's a Division III game.

On the court, Grinnell College Pioneers coach David Arseneault’s run-and-gun style just goes as “The System”, which also produced the school’s previous high record of 89 points by Griffin Lentsch on November 19, 2011 – which Taylor (who transferred from the University of Wisconsin La Crosse before the season) broke one year and one day later as Lentsch scored just seven points.

Interestingly enough, in the preview article about the Pioneers 2012-13 season, Arseneault said the following: “We felt like the biggest weakness we had a year ago was not having a scoring threat at the point guard position. That hole has not only been filled, it has been filled by a very special player who just might be the next leading scorer in the nation. Jack Taylor is the real deal and has a chance to become a special player in this program.”

I would say he’s special.

As was the Grinnell team, which was unselfish enough to let Taylor just shoot and shoot and shoot. Although this may sound strange with such a crazy individual record, but this performance was truly a team effort. And one to be commended.

But the question is, what will Taylor do for an encore? William Penn University comes to Grinnell on Sunday, November 25. Want to see what Taylor does? Grinnell College has a live video feed set up.

Eye on the Future will be watching - to see if there is a let-down.

David Hein

FIBA

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