Dedrique Taylor was in an expansive, almost exuberant, mood, his usual reserved, cool, clinical demeanor buried under an excitement usually seen at the end of the season — if then.
For that, you can thank two factors: his Cal State Fullerton men’s basketball team has played in the last game of the Big West Tournament four of the last five years, and that, yet again, his fellow Big West coaches ignored this fact and did him another huge favor.
They picked the Titans to finish sixth in the preseason coaches poll.
“I love it. They’re so smart, they’re stupid,” he said, his voice rising in excitement with each letter. “You picked the program that has reached the finals of the Big West Conference Tournament four of the last five years sixth. … It’s par for the course, and I appreciate it. We’ll take it and keep on going. We’ll do what we do, and the rest of you can read about it when we’re still playing and you’re at home. It’s awesome.”
Speaking of “awesome,” Taylor has redefined what that word means in the big picture of Cal State Fullerton men’s basketball. He enters his 11th season as the first coach in program history to put up back-to-back 20-win seasons and the only coach to take two CSUF men’s teams to the NCAA Tournament, bringing the Titans to the 2018 and 2022 Big Dances. Along the way, the Titans lost in the finals of the 2019 and 2023 conference tournaments.
This, naturally, affects recruiting. Taylor attracted several players who enjoyed success at smaller programs. On the surface, there’s not a marquee ex-pat from the transfer portal coming in with the same impact E.J. Anosike brought to Fullerton two years ago. Then again, nobody at the outset of the 2021-22 season saw Anosike as the on-court game-changer he became.
“When you have success and experience success, you’re able to point back on why you’re able to have success,” Taylor said. “We’ve been able to have success the last five years and…
Read the full article here
