The end of the Taylor Black era

By: Jaycee Cruz

There were 50 seconds remaining in the Marauders’ OUA quarterfinal game against Windsor. Mac was down double digits, but Burridge was still packed and the noise level would make you think that something special was happening.

The truth is, there was something special happening. For the last time in his five-year Marauder basketball career, Stoney Creek, Ont. forward Taylor Black checked out of the game, this time to sporadic applause that became a full-blown standing ovation. Burridge was rocking, and even Windsor had to pause and give credit to the graduating Marauder. For a few moments near the end of the game, Black was the centre of attention.

“I didn’t really notice the standing ovation until I watched it the next day. It was weird. It was like tunnel vision but the tunnel I was encapsulated within was full of energy,” said Black. “I knew people were standing up, I knew people had my back and I knew people were applauding me but I didn’t see it. I just felt it.”

For him, everything about his last game is still blurry.

“It was like a roller coaster – like a ride gone wrong. It started off very exhilarating. The beginning was fun. That was like the first drop of the roller coaster when you’re figuring things out, realizing you’re on a roller coaster and how the rest of the ride is going to be,” said Black. “In the second half I started enjoying the ride. I hit a couple of shots, played some good defense, grabbed rebounds and then the game slipped away before I really knew what happened. It was crazy. It happened too fast.”

Despite the sad end to a great career, Black still sees positive through it all. In his rookie season he sustained a devastating shoulder and knee injury. It could have sidetracked his career, but Black bounced back. Not only did he match the level he was playing at before his injury, he soared above it. In his five years playing for Mac, Black played 96 total games, started 81 and averaged double digits in points per game in three out of his five seasons.

In a career littered with memories, there are a couple of specific games that stick out.

“One of my favorite moments was in my third year. It was a playoff game at Lakehead. We lost, but I had 28 points and 14 rebounds. My coaches brought me aside and said, ‘Taylor, you no longer have to think about that injury ever again because you have head-and-shoulders surpassed where you were at before the injury,’” Black said. “For maybe a week I had many people sending me messages saying, ‘Taylor, you figured it out. You figured it out.’”

Another one of Black’s favorite moments came this year in Mac’s last regular season game against Algoma. It was in the waning moments of a Mac blowout and majority of the starters were on the bench.

“When Lucas Marsden hit those two threes against Algoma, I looked from side-to-side on our bench and every single person was standing up and clapping for him. That’s when you know the team has your back and everyone else’s back,” said Black. “Seeing him hit those shots was like seeing your brother walk for the first time.”

Now that his Marauder career is in the rearview mirror, Black has several options for the near future. Given his height and inside-outside skill set, Black fits the mould for European basketball. The kinesiology graduate says he has the marks to go to grad school or become a chiropractor too.

Although his next step has not yet been decided, Black says that giving back to the Hamilton community is his priority.

“It’s sad that Hamilton has one of the highest poverty rates in Canada and it was through Mac Athletes Care that I learned that and saw that firsthand. Hopefully one day I can accumulate some financial resources or something else to help with that poverty,” Black said. “I’ve heard it said that ‘anyone can write a cheque’ but there’s always time that needs to put into a community for it to really better itself and I can see myself giving that time.”

Black is bidding goodbye to the school he has given so much to. He was the only player on the basketball team who remained from the Joe Raso coaching era. His career didn’t have the storybook ending he hoped for, but he asserts that he has no regrets about his decision to come to Mac.

“It was amazing. A lot of people have asked me especially in the last six months ‘oh, do you ever wish that you went to Cornell or Harvard or St. Bonaventure or just a different CIS team in Canada?’ Hell no. I wouldn’t trade my experience here at Mac for the world. It was an awesome ride.”