ROCKWELL — You may not have heard of Averett College before today, but it just might be tailor-made for East Rowan senior Taylor Weber.
Weber, a 6-foot-5 forward who made All-Rowan County and averaged 14.5 ppg last spring, has signed to play basketball for the Division III school next season.
“I’m glad Taylor’s getting an opportunity to play in college,” said Mark Flynn, who recently resigned as East’s head coach. “College ball has always been Taylor’s goal and when you coach a kid three years, you feel good when he reaches a goal.”
Weber, 15th on East’s all-time scoring list with 711 points, said that like dozens of other kids he grew up with hoop dreams of playing at UNC.
“I guess at some point, I realized that wasn’t going to happen,” said Weber. “Then I settled for finding out where I could play and what I could do.”
Weber’s offer to keep going in basketball was tendered by Cougar coach Kirk Chandler, who was an assistant at UNC Greensboro and CVAC schools, St. Andrew’s and Barton, before taking the head job at Averett.
“Actually, Averett contacted me first about playing football,” said Weber, who caught two TDs for the Mustangs in a fling as wide receiver last fall. “But basketball’s what I really love, so I asked about basketball. Coach Flynn sent some tapes and then the Averett basketball coach kept calling and calling. He really seemed interested.”
It makes sense that coach Chandler was excited. Weber, who has played on some ultra-athletic AAU teams, runs well, jumps well and shoots well from outside. Weber averaged 16 ppg in three contests against North Rowan last season and 13 ppg in two battles with West Rowan. And if you can compete with the Bryan McCulloughs and Donte Minters and Junior Hairstons, you’re not going to be overwhelmed by many people in D-III.
“Taylor’s got a nose for the ball and he’s real versatile,” said Flynn. “He was small when he was a young player, so he developed good perimeter skills. Then he grew and had to play inside for us. He goes inside or outside pretty well now, so he could be either a 3-man or a 4-man in D-III. Averett really doesn’t have defined positions, other than point guard.”
Averett (the “A” is long as in aviator) is located in Danville, Va., and competes in the Dixie Conference with N.C. Wesleyan, Ferrum, Christopher Newport, Methodist, Shenandoah University and Greensboro College.
Weber noticed that West’s Terris Sifford signed with Greensboro the other day, which means they’ll still go at it a few times a year. “I’ve been playing against Terris since we were seven or eight,” said Weber. “Now, we can keep that rivalry on.”
Weber will be joining a team that’s pretty good. The Cougars were 16-11 last season, scored over 100 points three times and reached the finals of the Dixie Conference tourney before falling to Christopher Newport (Newport New, Va.), their biggest rival.
“Averett is a big offensive team,” said Weber. “Not all run-and-gun, but if you get a shot you take it. I like that.”
As a senior, Weber had 27 points against Concord and 26 against A.L. Brown, but says his most memorable moments came in those uphill battles in county games with talented North, West and South.
“The best times were always proving people wrong,” he said. “When people said we couldn’t play with the big boys and then we would go out there and do it, anyway.”
Now, Weber is headed to where he will actually be one of the big boys. No one on last season’s Averett roster was taller than the young Mustang, so he could fight for immediate playing time.
“Taylor’s worked since the season ended and has hit the weights hard to get stronger” said Flynn. “His best days are definitely ahead of him.”
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Contact Mike London at mlondon@salisburypost.com or at 797-4259.
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