‘That’s just the price you pay'
15 1/2 hours, 4 games, 2 teams and 1 kid — Emporia High sophomore Taylor Euler — willing to sacrifice his body for his dreams
By Michael Ashford
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
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'The Price You Pay'
Emporia High sophomore Taylor Euler spends his weekend playing basketball around the state, working to improve his game with the goal of playing Division-I ball.
LAWRENCE
Taylor Euler’s legs ache, a fresh layer of sweat coats his body, his arms are nicked with red scratches and scrapes and all he really wants to do is sleep.
He’s just finished playing his fourth basketball game of the day at the Jayhawk Invitational AAU basketball tournament on Saturday. He is exhausted.
“My whole body hurts,” he says, wiping sweat from his neck and face as he stands on the Allen Fieldhouse sideline. “I’ll probably fall asleep on the drive home. It’s a long drive, and all I want to do is sleep right now — sleep and drink water.”
This is the end of a typical spring Saturday for Euler, who is finishing his sophomore year at Emporia High. He plays on two different AAU basketball teams — the Kansas Attack out of Topeka and the Wedman Pumas out of Kansas City. On this day, each team played two games, which meant Euler had double the normal workload of a typical AAU athlete.
Four games in one day might seem like a lot, but that’s on the low end. He’s played in tournaments where he has had to play six games in one day because his teams kept winning.
“I guess that’s the reward for doing good,” he says.
Euler says he has to become a better basketball player. He has worked on polishing his shot, and he’s not too proud to want to play good defense, even in the score-first world of AAU basketball.
And so he puts himself through weekends like this one.
9:35 a.m.
Euler walks through the double doors of the Horejsi Family Athletics Center on the University of Kansas campus with a gym bag flung over his shoulder that’s full of all the necessities he’ll need for his marathon day of basketball — shoes, several pairs of fresh socks, shorts, undershirts and two different jerseys.
He arrives in Lawrence with his father, Pete, after the roughly hour-and-15-minute drive from Emporia.
With his first game with the Wedman Pumas still about an hour away, to pass the time, Taylor, along with his teammate Garrett Stutz, slips over to Allen Fieldhouse to check out the action there.
At Allen, Taylor and Stutz sit and watch a team from Texas go to work against a team made up of mostly Topeka players called the Southside Ballers.
Taylor has had dreams of playing in Allen ever since he could shoot a basketball. Later tonight, he’ll get that chance when the Pumas face K.C. Elite in KU’s arena.
In a perfect world, he would don a Jayhawk jersey and play on the same court that saw guys like Kirk Hinrich, Paul Pierce, Drew Gooden and many other future professional stars make shot after shot. That dream, he says, “is not really reality though.”
After taking in a few minutes of basketball and checking the day’s schedule, Taylor walks back to Horesji to get ready for his first game.
While he changes his socks, puts on his ankle braces and does some light stretching, he watches fellow Emporia High teammates Caydrick Bloomquist and Troy Pierce as they play a game on an adjacent court.
About 10 minutes before the start of the game, the Wedman Pumas — coached by six-time NBA All-Star Scott Wedman of Boston Celtics fame — hold a brief team meeting to discuss the game plan, and then the team goes inside to begin warmups.
10:27 a.m.
The first of four games on the day begins with Taylor on the bench.
The Wedman Pumas are a 17-and-under squad out of Kansas City, and this is Taylor’s first year with the team.
“I’m more of a role player on this team,” he says. “I don’t really get to shoot as much on this team.”
Role player or not, Taylor has his best game so far for the Pumas when he scores nine points, gets two steals and dishes out an assist in roughly 21 minutes of playing time. The Pumas build a lead and cruise from there, defeating the Houston Jr. Hardballers, 69-43.
Taylor goes 3-for-4 from the field and 2-for-2 at the free-throw line, which, when added to his 3-for-3 performance from the first game of the tournament he played Friday night, means Taylor is shooting 86 percent from the field through two games of the tournament.
His lone miss of the game comes on a layup attempt that is easily blocked from behind.
“I love when that happens,” Taylor says sarcastically. “That was kind of embarrassing.”
One thing Taylor can’t help is his height. He stands 5-foot-10, and would give just about anything for the two inches that would push him up past 6 feet and make him more desirable to college coaches.
The game against the Hardballers also is about as physical as they come. The boys from Houston seem to enjoy swinging their elbows a little bit too much. Taylor does a little pushing of his own, but he’s more satisfied with winning.
“That happens in just about every game,” he says, “but you’ve got to play through it. We won, and we played well. That’s all that matters.”
After one game, he already shows some battle wounds. A large scratch runs down the side of his left arm. He grabs a Gatorade from his gym bag and sits down to rest a bit.
There’s no time for that now, though. His father comes up to him and informs him, “You’ve got 19 minutes to make your next game. Get your stuff and let’s go.”
It’s going to be that kind of day for Taylor.
11:30 a.m.
The first thing Taylor notices when he walks into Robinson Gymnasium is the heat.
The basketball courts inside Robinson, the old Kansas student rec center, are not air conditioned. Signs posting that tidbit of information on every door seem to proudly proclaim that fact.
Huge fans stationed all around the three-court gymnasium desperately try to improve the air circulation in order to provide some relief to the players and spectators, but to little avail.
Still, it’s not the worst conditions Taylor has had to play in.
“We had to play in a place in Dallas that was hotter than this,” Taylor says. “It was an old, old high school, and it was so hot.”
Taylor changes into his Kansas Attack jersey and begins his warmups for his second game of the day.
It is immediately clear that Taylor is much more relaxed with the Kansas Attack. He jokes around with his teammates more. He readily admits to being more loose when he plays with the Attack, seeing as how he has played with this team since he was in fifth grade.
“I’m guess I’m a little bit more at ease with this team,” he says. “I feel like a bigger part of the team, probably just because I’ve been with those guys longer.”
Another rough and physical game sees Taylor score 14 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, but the Attack loses steam late and falls, 66-59, to the Howard Pulley Panthers.
Afterward, Taylor is particularly upset about his shooting performance. He goes 3-for-6 from the free-throw line — unacceptable for him — and he wears the look of frustration after every miss from the field.
After all, he has been working more on his shot lately.
Before Mark Turgeon left Wichita State to take the head coaching job at Texas A&M, Taylor was getting a lot of interest from the Shocker program. One assistant for WSU even watched five of Taylor’s games last year, and at one point told Pete that Taylor would be a perfect fit at Wichita State provided he improve in one crucial area.
He had to become a better shooter.
“Ever since high school ball has been over ... I’ve been working with my shot, and it feels a lot better,” he says. “I’ve been releasing the ball earlier, and it makes my shot feel better. It (the ball) seems to go in more.”
1:10 p.m.
Taylor takes a bite from a foot-long Philly cheesesteak sandwich at the Pepperjax Grill in downtown Lawrence.
It is the first thing he has eaten in more than 24 hours.
It’s no surprise then that he gets his sandwich with double the meat.
“This is Taylor’s favorite,” his father, Pete, says.
Taylor and Pete are joined by Pete’s mother and father, Juanita and Junior, as well as Taylor’s older sister Kara’s boyfriend, Jordan Johnson.
Taylor’s grandmother, who he affectionately calls “Grammy,” asks him if he is getting worn out. Taylor takes a large bite out of his sandwich and tells her that yes, he is “very tired, very worn out.”
Meals during AAU tournaments are kind of a hit-and-miss thing for Taylor.
At the Dallas tournament several weeks ago, for three days in a row, he didn’t get to eat dinner until well after midnight.
That makes the Philly cheesesteak he is currently enjoying that much better. He doesn’t know when he’ll get to sit down for his next meal.
He is the first to finish his sandwich.
2:06 p.m.
Taylor and his father stake out a nice shady spot underneath a tree.
They stretch out on a blanket in the cool grass and take a few precious minutes to slow down and relax. Across the way, the hollow ping of aluminum bats echo as Kansas State and Kansas are about ready to start their baseball game.
Taylor considers going over to catch a few innings, but the shade provided by the tree is too enjoyable to leave now.
Taylor uses this time to hang his Kansas Attack jersey on a limb so it can air out. The heat in Robinson Gymnasium caused Taylor to sweat completely through his jersey, and a little breeze would at least freshen it up before his next game.
With a full stomach for the first time in a day, Taylor lies down, takes out his cell phone and catches up on some texting.
These are the moments during the busy weekends that allow him to recharge for the rest of the day.
“I just try to lay down somewhere and stay out of the sun, put my feet up, take my shoes and socks off to air my feet out,” he says. “I just relax, maybe take a nap.”
For a high school sophomore, he rarely has time to slow down on the weekends.
Already this year, Taylor has been to tournaments in Dallas and Houston, and plans to try and make it to a couple in Iowa and Kansas City, Mo. A trip to Denton, Texas, also is planned. A tournament in Vegas is likely out of the picture, though.
Seeing as how Taylor is Emporia High’s starting quarterback — a role he took over this past season — he most likely will have to miss out on the trip to Vegas because of a football camp.
“I want to go (to Vegas),” he says, “but I don’t think Coach (Bill) Lowe would be too happy with me.”
After some much-needed rest, Taylor heads back to the heat of Robinson Gymnasium to watch some friends play and then to play in his third game.
4:42 p.m.
Taylor has just finished his best game of the day, scoring 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field and going a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. He plays the entire second half — AAU halves are 16 minutes long — which helps him “get into a rhythm,” he says.
He does it all under the inquiring eye of Kansas assistant basketball coach Ronnie Chalmers.
Chalmers watches most of the game from the far sideline wearing an unassuming red KU polo, and then exits virtually unnoticed.
Unnoticed by nearly everyone, except Taylor.
“Did you see Ronnie Chalmers watching us?” he asks his dad after the game. “That was pretty tight.”
Washburn head basketball coach Bob Chipman also takes in the game, but he has an even better reason to view the game. His son, Bobby, also plays for the Attack, and Taylor and Bobby have grown up good friends. But that doesn’t mean Taylor’s basketball talent doesn’t catch Chipman’s eye.
Late in the game, Taylor sinks two free throws after an intentional foul that ices a 61-51 victory for the Attack over a team from the Kansas City area, Midwest Mission.
“That’s a real weapon to have at the end of a game,” the Washburn coach says out loud, “a guy who can hit free throw like that.”
5:09 p.m.
The cushioned seats of the booth inside Zig & Mac’s Restaurant, as well as the air conditioning, are pure bliss to Taylor’s weary body.
His head rests on the cushiony back of the seat as he and Bobby Chipman watch the Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons in Game One of the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals on a huge projection screen TV near the bar.
Kirk Hinrich is playing for the Bulls. Every time Hinrich has the ball, Taylor’s eyes follow. Hinrich drains a free-throw line jumper over a defender, much to Taylor’s delight. Hinrich is a guy who “can fill it up,” Taylor says.
The two friends and teammates discuss a wide range of topics: drag racing versus NASCAR, the De La Hoya/Mayweather fight, the past football season.
The conversation turns to Taylor’s final game of the night, the one where he will get to play in Allen Fieldhouse.
“I’m so nervous,” Taylor says. “It’s going to be so crazy playing in there.”
“You better make a shot,” Bobby says.
Eventually, the food comes, diverting Taylor’s attention away from his last game of the day. Instead, Taylor and Bobby discuss which restaurant has the best mozzarella sticks.
Both then order a plate of mozzarella sticks.
7:02 p.m.
Before his fourth and final game of the day, Taylor walks into Allen Fieldhouse and leans up against a wall just inside the arena. It is one of the first times all day that he has been alone, and he uses the moment to take in the sights and sounds of the scene before him.
He watches a team from Texas battle a team from Oklahoma, but his mind really isn’t on the game he’s watching as much as it is on being inside Allen Fieldhouse and being on the court where, as he says, “guys like Kevin Durant (of Texas) and so many future pros have made shots.”
“It’s going to be so cool playing full court in Allen Fieldhouse,” he says. “You grow up as a kid, and it’s not the same as playing for KU, but it’s almost like that. Playing in the whole atmosphere of Allen Fieldhouse is awesome.
“I have to at least make one shot,” he says, smiling. “At least I’ve got warmups.”
The Pumas’ coach, Scott Wedman, sees a talented basketball player in Taylor, saying he displays strengths like “court-awareness, speed, good shooting and defense.”
“He’s really, I think, a very complete player,” Wedman says, “and he’s only going to get better.”
Taylor does make a shot at Allen Fieldhouse — two shots actually. His first on a driving layup and his second on a 3-pointer from the deep corner. He scores five points as the Pumas whip K.C. Elite, 69-34.
When he finally finishes his 15 1/2-hour day, Taylor will have played roughly 100 minutes of basketball over four grueling, physical, exhausting basketball games. He’ll have scored 50 total points on 16-of-33 shooting. He’s upset about some turnovers in some of the games and a few missed free throws, but, all-in-all, he’s pleased with his day.
And after he gets back to Emporia at about 11 at night, he’ll get some much-needed sleep. It probably won’t be enough, seeing as how his first game on Sunday is at 8 in the morning, again in Allen Fieldhouse.
So why does he subject his body to such abuse week after week?
The reason is simple, yet the end result is far more difficult to attain.
“Playing Division-I college basketball has always been a dream of mine since I was a little kid,” Euler says. “It’s worth it to put your body through this.
“The chance to expose yourself in front of college coaches, not a lot of people get that chance in Emporia, so I’m just trying to make the most of that chance and make it to D-I.”
But because he can’t control his height, he focuses on becoming a better player. He figures if he can just get one team to take a chance on him, then that would make all of this worth it.
The thought that a lurking Division-I coach might see him and like what he sees continues to drive him to make his next day even better, despite the sweat, the aches, the bruises, the hot gyms, the seemingly unquenchable thirst.
He does it because there is always the possibility that his dream, however distant it might seem at times, might one day be reality.
“It’s all about showing college coaches that I can play,” he says. “Even with how tired I am, I’ve got to keep pushing as hard as I can with every game.”
“Being tired, that’s just the price you pay.”