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Nebraska Cornhuskers Sign JUCO Transfer Evan Taylor

What does newly acquired transfer Evan Taylor bring to the 2016-17 Cornhuskers?

By Jordan Ball
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The Nebraska Cornhuskers filled a much needed roster spot a few weeks ago in the signing of Junior College transfer Evan Taylor.

With last season's second leading scorer Andrew White III (16.6 ppg) gone, after requesting for a release from the school, his release paved the way for Taylor to be able to fill in that spot.

Taylor even went to his Twitter to discuss his emotions on the signing to Nebraska.

He's finally landed in Nebraska after being on two different schools in two years since leaving high school in 2014.

He started his college career at Samford College during the 2014-15 season where he played in 31 games averaging 22.4 minutes and 6.4 points-per-game. After that he played his sophomore year last season at Odessa Junior College where he played in 31 games averaging 7.1 point-per-game, 2.5 assists and rebounds per-game.

In terms of the players on Nebraska's 2016-17 roster and their point-per-game average last season, he has the third highest total on the roster with only Tai Webster and Glynn Watson Jr. averaging more. Though Taylor's statistics were accumulated at a junior college, the ability he flashed was clearly enough for head coach Tim Miles to offer him a scholarship.

So at 6-foot-5, 205 pounds, the new guard does bring experience and a certain level of knowledge to this team after bouncing from two different levels of college basketball. Experience definitely comes with being an upperclassmen, so the real question is what might his role look like on this particular squad.

Tai Webster is the leader of this team and after averaging 10.1 points-per-game last season he's geared up for a better senior season and his backcourt mate Watson Jr., who averaged 8.6 points, is going to have a bigger role as well. Taylor is a multi-faceted guard who can play in either guard slot with his frame and contribute within the rotation alongside the other two guards.

A transition will happen going from Odessa to playing in the Big Ten, arguably the toughest conference in college basketball, but going to a team who finished in the bottom four in the Big Ten can only help the learning curve. Though Andrew White III left with Taylor basically filling in his scholarship void, this doesn't necessarily mean Miles and his staff expect him to replace that production, but he can be a contributor despite the transition.

It's hard to gauge players who've transferred from a junior college in what their immediate impact will be, but just adding to the depth of a team who had an overall 16-18 record last season always helps.

We can only speculate on who's going to be in the starting lineup or come off the bench until the season opener is upon us, but what I can say is that whatever Taylor's role is he's definitely excited about the opportunity he has in Nebraska.

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