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I assume there were a number of factors weighing in the Taylor decision to leave Lehigh I have no inside information at all, but I would think the following were the issues. 1) Money – always comes down to money, and I would think Lehigh was paying Taylor between $100-150,000 a season. That most likely tripled at Ball State to around the $400,000-$500,000 range. 2) Location – Taylor was a Midwest guy, born in Chicago, played HS ball there, then at Notre Dame. So, a lot of his recruiting hooks would be in the Midwest. 3) Conference – obviously the MAC is a step up from the PL, and since the MAC is in Big 10/Notre Dame country, perhaps Taylor thought success at the MAC level, could lead to a promotion to the Big 10. 4) Academics – I would think Taylor would have felt a lot of pressure recruiting student athletes coming from bigger schools in his past. The fact that he got in trouble over the Joe Knight recruitment and subsequent forfeiture of games. A move to Ball St would relieve that pressure. 5) Record – He had not done well in 06-07 the season before he left and was well under .500 that season. The fact that he got an offer to go off that season was a surprise. He had not been to the NCAAs since 03-04, I think, so he probably felt lucky to have a chance to jump. 6) Team – He left, I think, after Olivero graduated. So, the cupboard was not exactly full. He did have Hall and Carrington who were coming off All-PL freshman campaigns, and those guys made the tourney a few years later as seniors, but since they were only freshman, it was probably easier to go.
So, I think he saw a chance and jumped. He was a young up-and-coming African American coach with larger aspirations. When an upgrade comes along you sort of have to take it if you want to get to the powerhouse conferences of college basketball. His only other real option was to continue to try to build and have success at Lehigh, but that was far from guaranteed, and it is highly unlikely that he could have ever jumped from Lehigh to a major program without a step in between. He really had no ties to Lehigh, other than his relationship with McCaffrey, a former coach. I would think Reed is in the same boat as Taylor, as far as his thinking and his mentality moving forward. Taylor had a few more things going for him than Reed. First, that he was a highly regarded college player from a major program, and that he played and coached at Notre Dame, which is a national player in all sports. Also, the fact that Taylor was African American is a big plus for schools, due to the fact that he is recruiting 90% African American players.
That would be my thought on it.