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PELLA — With a protective boot on his right foot, Colby Taylor shifted his weight off his sore ankle as he stood and talked Saturday night about his record-setting career at Central College.
Thirty minutes earlier his final season did not end as he had hoped, in an 89-85 loss to Wartburg College in the Iowa Conference Tournament championship. The game determined the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.
As the fifth seed in the Iowa Conference Tournament, Central had unexpectedly gotten an opportunity to play at home in the title game after sixth-seeded Wartburg knocked off regular-season co-champion Loras College in the semifinals Thursday night.
On that night, Central dominated the other co-champ, Nebraska Wesleyan, by 85-63 score. But with nine minutes left, after he’d collected 16 points and 10 rebounds, Taylor went down when he reinjured an ankle originally sprained late in the regular season.
“I had shot a shot and was back-pedaling on defense,” Taylor said in recounting the injury that left him limping in a bulky ankle brace Saturday night. “The ball got tipped out, so I was going back to get it and my foot got stuck and turned over. It was pretty sore (Saturday), but nothing was going to keep me out of playing this last conference championship game.”
Taylor played more minutes (32) than coach Craig Douma expected, and made a significant contribution with 19 points and eight rebounds. He was 4-of-7 from 3-point range but the rest of the team struggled behind the arc at 9-of-35.
Second-half swoon
An extended cold spell by the Dutch in the second half after leading by 14 points quieted the raucous home crowd and gave the Knights some momentum down the stretch. Wartburg scored 55 points in the second half after trailing 43-34 at halftime.
“They made a bunch of tough shots,” Taylor said. “The ball got a little stagnant on offense for us, but you have to credit them. They did a lot of good things and played good defense down the stretch.”
Getting one last home game was special for Taylor, who thought he’d played at the Kuyper Athletic Complex gym for the final time in 80-78 victory over Buena Vista on Feb. 15, when he was honored at center court prior to the game as being Central’s all-time leading scorer.
“It was awesome here tonight,” Taylor said. “There were so many fans here. It was everything I could have hoped for in having a home conference championship game. They did everything they could to try to will us a victory.”
By winning three road games in a week to claim the tournament title, Wartburg duplicated Central’s feat from a year ago, when the same matchup occurred in the finals. In Taylor’s career he experienced a league regular season championship his freshman year and conference tournament crowns two of the next three years.
He was part of Douma’s first recruiting class at Central, joined a year later by former Hawkeye 10 rival Pete Walker of Red Oak, who had played tennis at Northwest Missouri State University as a freshman.
Walker averaged 24.6 points per game in his final five games for the Dutch, after overcoming an elbow injury earlier in the season.
Impact player
Taylor’s impact on the Central program will be held for many years to come.
Taylor led Central to two NCAA Tournament berths — in 2013-14 and 2015-16. The Dutch won the Iowa Conference Tournament last season and won the league title outright as a freshman.
“He hates to lose,” Douma said. “The success we’ve had in this program in the last three years is largely due to Colby Taylor.”
Taylor fits the model of an athlete and a student at the Division III level.{
“He’s a great student,” Douma said. “He epitomizes what a Division III student is all about. He’s a dedicated student. He’s dedicated to basketball.”
Walker was looking into his options three years ago.
He’d completed his freshman year as a member of the men’s tennis team at Northwest Missouri State, but Walker’s heart was on the hardwood.
He took visits to Simpson and Central.
Taylor was there to help Walker on his visit to Pella.
Walker chose Central.
“Colby meant a ton,” Walker said. “Part of the reason why I came here — when I got here, came to visit, he was really good to me. I didn’t know anybody here. He was super welcoming.”
“He’s a big reason why I cam here.”
Taylor always had an encouraging word for his former Hawkeye 10 Conference rival, now teammate.
“He’s been a great teammate for me, for my confidence,” Walker said. “He was always in my ear telling me to shoot more. He was huge for my confidence.”
Teammate Kyle Smith spoke glowingly about Taylor.
“He’s made my life a lot easier,” Smith said. “He’s tough. He works hard. He puts a ton of time in and out of practice, in the gym. He works hard.
“It’s been fun playing with him.”
Career records
Taylor leaves his mark on the Central program in so many ways. He finishes his career with the Dutch as the all-time leader in points (1,856), field goals made (633), field goals attempted (1,304), 3-pointers attempted (587), 3-pointers made (233), games played (111), games started (98) and minutes played (3,320). Taylor also set the all-time free throw percentage in a season record (.925). A streak of 32 consecutive made free throws is also a Central record.
The 6-foot-6, 210-pound forward was not only an outside shooting threat, but operated effectively inside, finishing as the school’s second-leading all-time rebounder with 890.
Relatively unheralded coming out of high school, Taylor said he never dreamed of such feats as a collegian. He just kept working on his game and hoped to contribute.
“Those kind of things were not even on my radar,” Taylor said, managing a smile through eyes still misty from a tough farewell in the dressing room with fellow seniors Tate Handsaker, Austin Glawe, Ryan Kunkel and Walker. “I just wanted to play a little bit as a freshman. Then, as time went on I saw some of those (records) were in my sights.”
The all-district academic selection majors in actuarial science —
a discipline that applies mathematical and statistical methods to assess risk in insurance, finance and other industries — and will graduate in May. He looks back at his decision to attend Central with no regrets.
“It was the best decision of my life to come to Central,” Taylor said. “It’s been awesome. Coaches, teammates, fans, family — everything people have done for me to allow me to have the opportunity to play college basketball for four years has meant so much to me. It’s been so amazing I can’t put it into words.”
It’s possible that Colby, the son of Bill and Joni Taylor of Creston, has not finished his competitive basketball career. As a freshman he saw Central star Matt Greenfield graduate and earn a chance to play overseas in Spain for a couple of years.
Taylor has designs on playing professionally, too. Douma said as a 6-foot-6 stretch four player in college with 3-point shooting range and an inside game, Taylor has the skill set valued in the European game.
“I will try to get with an agent and see about opportunities for tryouts,” Taylor said. “It would be fun. I never got the chance to study abroad since we play in both semesters here.”
“Why not take an opportunity to see the world and get paid for it playing basketball for a few more years?” Douma said. “Colby is very capable of playing at that level. You can work the rest of your life.”