This wasn’t the plan. This wasn’t the expectation.
Taylor Hendricks was a quality recruit, ranked among the top-100 high school prospects in his class. But nobody envisioned such a meteoric rise from small-school starter to NBA first-round draft prospect. Not the player. Not those around him. Not even the coach, UCF assistant Robbie Laing, who had recruited him since his sophomore year of high school.
But then, early in his one year at Central Florida, Hendricks began flashing an eye-opening potential, a two-way game that made people really pay attention. He didn’t just force his way into the starting lineup, but he became almost impossible to take off the floor.
“I always thought he was going to get to this point; I didn’t know he would get there this quick,” Laing said in a recent phone interview with The Post. “It happened fast, and I think some of our competition was a little stunned at how good he was.”
As a freshman, Hendricks averaged 15.1 points, seven rebounds, 1.7 blocks, 1.4 assists and shot a robust 39.4 percent from 3-point range. He shined at the NBA Combine, and on Thursday night will be a near lock to be drafted in the lottery.
An NBA scout familiar with Hendricks raved about his two-way ability to defend the basket and stretch the floor, calling the hype about him, “absolutely valid.”
The 6-foot-9 Hendricks, 19, worked out for the Magic, Pacers, Pistons, Mavericks, Jazz and Thunder, teams with picks from Nos. 6 through 16. He likely won’t be waiting long to hear his name called.
“It hasn’t really hit me yet,” the Fort Lauderdale, Fla. native told The Post. “I always thought I could make the NBA. I never imagined being one-and-done. I always thought at least two years.
“Before, when I would think about going to the NBA, I was just thinking about going to the NBA. I wasn’t thinking about all the team workouts you have to do or the team meetings. I never even thought about the green room or going to the draft. For me to be experiencing these things I never imagined or even thought about, it’s really a blessing.”
To get to this point, Hendricks took the road less traveled, eshewing the likes of Florida, Florida State and Iowa State to choose a school that wasn’t in a major conference.
Central Florida was involved early, and was the one school that recruited both Hendricks and his twin brother, Tyler, who redshirted as a freshman.
Laing had created a strong bond with the family early and felt the COVID-19 pandemic helped UCF. Other schools weren’t able to see Hendricks and he wasn’t a player that was looking elsewhere for a flashy name.
“I think kids make the mistake of going to the highest level they can go,” Laing said. “It’s the sexiest girl at the party [thing].
“You don’t develop your game unless you play. He came into our program, we had an absolute need for him, and then early on we had a good player who was a starter, had a knee injury [to a guy] who was going to play minutes [at his position], and suddenly those minutes were available for him as well.”
The rise happened fast.
Hendricks scored 23 points in his first game and then 15 points and 12 rebounds in a win over Florida State, prompting the Spurs to reach out to his high school coach at Calvary Christian Academy, Cilk McSweeney. He texted Hendricks and his mother, Danielle, about it, to which Taylor responded by writing, “wow.”
Read the New York Post’s coverage for the 2023 NBA Draft:
His profile was growing so much faster than he expected. He started to see his name in mock drafts and being tagged on social media in reports about the draft.
It’s a story that isn’t all that different from that of Oklahoma City Thunder wing Jalen Williams, a former star at Santa Clara who went from an unknown to a lottery pick (12th overall) last year. While the big schools typically dominate the NBA Draft, players like Williams and Hendricks are showing that teams will find players anywhere.
When Hendricks arrived at UCF, he researched how many NBA players it had produced. It wasn’t a very big number. His mother told him not to think about that.
“You can be another one,” she told him. “It doesn’t matter how many.”
She was right. It did happen for Hendricks. He hopes others follow his path.
“I would just say, bet on yourself,” he said. “Everyone’s route is different. Maybe the Dukes and Kentuckys are good for other players. If you don’t feel like you’re going to develop on the court, I would say go to school where you can develop on the court and you have a good relationship with the coaches. All the little stuff.”