Diamond Taylor just sounds like a great college basketball name, and he knows it will make him a target next season in arenas throughout the Big Ten.
"I'm always preparing myself for it," said Taylor, the Bolingbrook guard who has signed with Wisconsin. "Yeah, definitely, definitely, I can't wait to go down there and see what nicknames they're going to come up with."
Even with Friday's 61-57 quarterfinal loss to Ohio State in the Big Ten tournament, the Badgers (19-12) can be reasonably confident about receiving an NCAA bid when the tournament brackets are announced tonight. Their schedule was ambitious enough, with losses to Connecticut, Marquette and Texas. They then won 10 conference games in a league that could place as many as eight in the 65-team field.
That would be a major development for a league with a bit of an image problem. The Big East features three teams in the conversation for No. 1 seeds. The Big Ten claims only one team -- Michigan State -- with less than seven conference losses.
HBO makes documentaries about Michigan-Ohio State football, not basketball, and ESPN seems to think everything revolves around Tobacco Road. The Big Ten Network generates cash, but it doesn't help with perception. Like Fox News, it only attracts the true believers.
"It's a big, physical conference and sometimes (we're) like the underdogs," Taylor said last week. "The ACC, the Big East got the big-name schools. They're (sometimes) recognized as the powerhouses with the North Carolinas, the Georgetowns. I think the Big Ten (is) definitely on the rise. Hopefully, we keep getting big players."
The CBS cameras will focus on the coaches for reaction shots during the next three weeks, but remember it's all about the players. Identifying and maintaining talent is a constant process. That's why Wisconsin assistant Howard Moore made an appearance last week at the Oswego East Sectional to watch Taylor score 23 points in a 68-61 semifinal loss to Naperville Central.
Northwestern assistant Tavaras Hardy -- in the middle of a week that would end the Wildcats' slim NCAA hopes -- twice traveled to Oswego to get some face time with one of his recruits, Central senior swingman Drew Crawford.
The first trip came hours before Thursday's 11 a.m. tip at the Big Ten tournament. Hardy asked for Crawford's stat line on Wednesday night and then had to drive more than 200 miles to reach Indianapolis for what turned out to be an opening-round loss to Minnesota. Hardy returned Friday night and saw Neuqua Valley forward Dwayne Evans (30 points, 17 rebounds) take over the sectional final and eliminate Central.
The Big Ten doesn't win on style points, and here's one exchange that pretty much sums up the league. After a victory over Iowa last month, Northwestern forward Kevin Coble described Hawkeye guard Jake Kelly as having lots of AND 1 Mixtape-type moves. Coble was then asked if he watches those circus-exhibition DVDs.
"I see the commercials," Coble deadpanned. "I change the channel."
In Taylor, Wisconsin will be getting a slender 6-foot-3-inch guard with narrow shoulders and an explosive first step. Taylor played at St. Joseph before transferring to Bolingbrook for his senior season, a move he said he does not regret. Marty Gaughan, the former Benet coach, saw Taylor often in the East Suburban Catholic Conference and worked with him in the Illinois Wolves AAU program. Gaughan compared Taylor's athleticism to that of Evan Turner, the 6-7 sophomore out of St. Joseph who has emerged as an all-Big Ten guard/forward at Ohio State.
"I think (Taylor's) biggest thing right now is for him to really understand how good he can be, and I think to then have the attitude to be that good every time he steps on the floor," Gaughan said. "There's a lot of kids (who) fall into that.
"Evan Turner was kind of a little bit like that, (where) he didn't realize how good he could be and he didn't necessarily demonstrate that every time he stepped on the floor, and now he's doing that. And he's doing it at a really, really high level."
Last week Central's student section was on Taylor from pregame warm-ups through the fourth quarter, yelling "Diamond's garbage!" and other things that can't make the paper. Between his past at the school of "Hoop Dreams" and his future in Wisconsin, by now Taylor is used to the attention.
"Oh yeah, coming from St. Joe's and the Catholic league, that's one of the toughest leagues to play in," Taylor said. "(Central) came with some good chants (and) a few of them got me, like, 'Man!' But other than that, I was cool. I kept my composure."
Contact Patrick Mooney at pmooney@scn1.com or 630-416-5107.
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