Louisville basketball target Andrew Taylor commits to Mississippi State

Once Marshall guard Andrew Taylor entered the transfer portal, it didn’t take long for Louisville Head Coach Kenny Payne to reach out to the Corbin, Kentucky native. Andrew Taylor played high school basketball at Corbin High School in Corbin, Kentucky, and originally committed to Furman before de-committing and ultimately playing for the Marshall Thundering Herd.

The 6-foot-3, 185-pound point guard was highly coveted out of the transfer portal because of his ability to score and knock down the three-ball at a high level. Last year with the Herd, he averaged 20.2 points per game, 4.7 rebounds per game, and 4.7 assists per game, while shooting 36% from behind the three-point line.

Those kinds of statistics saw him receive a lot of interest from Division I programs all over the country.

Kenny Payne and John Calipari reached out to the Bluegrass native, but he ultimately decided to take his talents to Mississippi State and play for Head Coach Chris Jans. Andrew Taylor joins West Virginia’s Jimmy Bell as the only two transfers coming into the Bulldogs next season. But, Head Coach Jans does have several freshmen coming in, most notably four-star point guard Josh Hubbard, who is the No. 1 ranked player in the state of Mississippi for the Class of 2023.

The addition of Taylor would have been amazing on the court for Louisville basketball, but it was his off-the-court reputation that took a hit in high school. He allegedly uttered a racial slur during a game in his high school career, which ultimately earned him a suspension. But, the commitment of such an act like that takes some serious personal growth, and while we don’t know what kind of growth he has done personally, the fact that the influx of that situation avoids Louisville is probably a good thing.