Lucas Taylor, Georgia State basketball guard, settles into role as team's pivotal piece

The conference championship-winning 2017-2018 Heritage High School boys basketball team has produced a few significant names, one of which is Lucas Taylor.

The 6'5 guard at Georgia State University (GSU) has been electric, quickly becoming the team's top scorer, and is top 10 in scoring in the Sun Belt Conference.

Taylor's love for the game has led him to set high goals for himself and the team, as he has become a leader and pivotal piece of GSU's lineup.

"I want to be in the NCAA tournament and make a push to the NCAA tournament."

This has been an overall theme for Taylor, who has been very outspoken about his drive to win.

"I always say we're trying to win every game," said Taylor. "Every time I step on the floor, I want to win, whether it's practice or the game or just kind of having fun. That. That's our goal. Anytime that Georgia State is on the court, we're trying to win."

Time as a Husky

At Heritage , Taylor slowly improved on the court after joining the varsity team in his freshman year, and by his junior year, he was becoming a top player in the conference.

In his junior season (2019-20), he led Heritage in scoring, averaging 21.6 points per game and averaged 5.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.6 steals per contest. His impressive season earned him a spot on the North Carolina Basketball Coaches Association (NCBCA) All-District Team.

The following year, in his senior season, he took a significant leap in performance, averaging 27.9 points, eight rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.2 steals per game. His 27.9 points per game led not only the conference but also the entire North Carolina 4A division.

He was also top three in the conference in three-pointers made (17), blocks per game (0.8), double-doubles (three), field goals made (54), rebounds per game (eight) and steals per game (2.2).

Taylor credits much of his growth to the players and coaches that surrounded him.

"I loved [Heritage]," said Taylor. "In my freshman year, I played with two really good players, Jayden Gardner and Jarren McAllister . Two huge players. It was a big time to play with those guys who really taught me a lot during my freshman year because I was really just a shooter. That's all I really did. Then, I kind of grew into my role later on in my sophomore, junior and senior years, being a leader and kind of being the focal point because of having those guys around to teach me the ropes. Some of my coaches as well. Coach Brill, Coach Pyper and Coach Collins were all great. They were probably the best high school coaches I could ask for."

By the end of his senior year, Taylor earned All-State honors from the NCBCA and was named to the roster for the Carolinas Classic. The Carolinas Classic is an all-star game that features North Carolina's best-graduating seniors against their counterparts from South Carolina. However, the game was not played that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Taylor accumulated a number of other accolades, including being named to the HighSchoolOT.com All-State Team, earning NBCA All-District, Conference Player of the Year and First-Team All-Conference honors.

Taylor finished high school as a three-star prospect, according to 247Sports , the No. 7 prospect in North Carolina and the No. 38 shooting guard in the country.

The move to collegiate play

Taylor, who received over 30 collegiate offers, originally committed to Clemson University but eventually de-committed; three weeks later, he announced on Twitter that he committed to Wake Forest University.

At Wake Forest, Taylor spent two years as a Demon Deacon but mostly sat back, waiting for his chance. He played in 23 games at Wake Forest but started in just two and averaged 6.7 minutes played per game.

Despite his low playtime, Taylor has a positive view of his time at Wake Forest.

"I feel like my freshman year was a big leaping point for me," said Taylor. "It helped my development and my confidence as well. Just learning a lot from all the older guys."

Taylor transferred to Georgia State University ahead of the 2023-24 school year and quickly made an impact, earning the starting role in the season opener.

In GSU's second game of the season, at the SBC-MAC Challenge, they took down Western Michigan 77-70, mainly in part of Taylor scoring 27.

Georgia State stand-out

Taylor made his mark immediately after stepping on the court for GSU. After having a career-high six at Wake Forest, he doubled it in his first game with the new team, scoring 12 points in the season opener against Belmont University.

On and off the court, Taylor has found a home at GSU.

"I've loved [being at Georgia State], it's been great," said Taylor. It's kind of a difference being from Raleigh and then going to Wake Forest. I never lived outside Wake Forest a day of my life. So moving to Atlanta was definitely an adjustment for sure, being in the city and things like that. But overall, now that I've been here for a little over five or six months, I would say it's been really well. I love all my teammates; we bonded really well, and the coaches as well."

By the start of February, Taylor has long secured a spot as a focal point of the GSU lineup.

Taylor averages 14.8 points per game, three rebounds and 2.1 assists. His 14.8 points per game leads the team and ranks No. 9 in the Sun Belt Conference . He has drained 47 three-pointers on the season, placing him No. 9 in the conference, and is No. 7 in three-pointers per game (2.1). Taylor is also No. 12 in conference field goal percentage with .419.

"I feel I've learned a lot," said Taylor. "Being at college definitely helped my confidence grow in that aspect, just being around a lot of different guys and picking up things from being in school and just being around older guys who are more experienced and know more about the game."

During the season, Taylor has had two performances in the top 20 for points in a game for Sun Belt players this season. These are his 27-point performance in the second game of the season and his 28-point performance against Georgia Southern University on Jan. 13.

"I wasn't really sure, to be honest, coming in," said Taylor on the Panther Insider Podcast when asked if he saw himself becoming a top scorer coming into GSU. "I just knew I wanted to make an impact on winning. That was my biggest thing. Whatever the coaches wanted me to do, definitely shooting or however that be, being a good teammate, I just wanted to be somewhere I could impact winning."

Taylor's 28-point performance set his new collegiate career high. He shot an efficient 11-16 from the field and was nearly perfect from beyond the arc, shooting 5-6 from three.

"My teammates did a great job and set me up," said Taylor regarding his 28-point performance. "It was a big-time game for Toneari [Lane], Jay'Den [Turner], Dwon [Odom], Leslie [Nkereuwem]; they put me in a good position to score all the time and things like that. So it was really a credit to all those guys just sharing the ball. We do a good job of that and just gave me the ball where I can get good shots."

After six consecutive losses, Georgia State has fallen to 9-13 and 4-7 in conference play. Still, Taylor continues to perform well, scoring double-digit points in six of the last seven games and all but four games this season. This includes a 22-point performance in the most recent loss, coming against Troy University, as he shot a near-perfect 4-5 from beyond the arc.