UW monopolizes Taylors recruitment
Choosing a Monopoly theme to announce his commitment Saturday, four-star athlete A.J. Taylor is heading to Wisconsin as part of the Badgers' 2016 class.
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"It's the fact that they (Wisconsin) were the college that had everything I was looking for academically and when it comes to football," Taylor told Rivals.com. "Wisconsin's academics are strong -- it's hard to get into the school and I just felt like that made it a challenge for me that I had to accept."
A four-star prospect from Kansas City (MO) Rockhurst, Taylor chose the Badgers over offers from Missouri, Northwestern, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas State, Nebraska and Vanderbilt, among others. And though he played primarily as a tailback during his junior season, Taylor, the No. 11 athlete and No. 143 player in the country, according to Rivals.com, projects as a wide receiver under head coach Paul Chryst and position coach Ted Gilmore.
"I'm definitely excited about the new challenge of playing receiver," Taylor, commit No. 16 in UW's current class, said. "Even coach Gilmore said I've only scratched the surface as far as what I can do at receiver. That really kind of got me motivated. It will be challenging at first but it's nothing that I haven't done before. It's just working hard and staying disciplined, and that's what I'm going to do.
"I only told coach Gilmore and coach Chryst about the commitment, and coach Gilmore was going to do his happy dance, he said, as soon as I let him know. And coach Chryst was just more excited than ever. He was just laughing and it was a real good time."
Taylor, who accumulated nearly 1,500 all-purpose yards and scored more than 15 touchdowns as a junior, visited Madison twice in the spring and quickly became the staff's top receiver target in the current cycle. During that time, he also built a relationship with quarterback Kare' Lyles and running back Antonio Williams, both of whom are committed to the Badgers.
"As soon as Wisconsin fans knew they were on top of my radar, that's when it went uphill," Taylor said when asked about the attention he received through social media. "I was getting follows from Wisconsin fans and little tweets trying to get me to Wisconsin. I was really seeing the love from Wisconsin fans. Kare' and Antonio, I talked to them a little bit and it was a good time. I learned a lot.
"At first it was a little tough, but I learned to deal with it. I took time away -- time for myself to really think about things and relax. So it started off tough but it got better as the recruiting process increased. I feel excited and definitely feel a little bit of relief. Now that's it's over I can really focus on my football season and helping my team get to state."
One of Taylor's biggest goals this fall is to be more of leader during his final prep season.
"The goals for this season are definitely to be better than last year," he said. "One of the biggest goals for me is to be a leader for this team. Last year I didn't lead as well as I could have and this year it's one of my main goals, to be a leader through my actions or through speaking. However I can do it."
Rivals.com's Randy Withers contributed to this report.