The family atmosphere at Arkansas and the Hog Call wowed Butler guard transfer Jayden Taylor during his official visit to Fayetteville.
“I feel like the whole staff has welcomed me with open arms,” Taylor said. “Fayetteville, I’ve never been here. It’s my first time. It’s a very friendly environment. I feel like everybody is family oriented. It’s just a great place to visit and I feel like I could see myself being successful here.”
Taylor, 6-4 and 195 pounds, led the Bulldogs in scoring with 12.9 points per game while starting all 32 games as a sophomore in 2022-23. He also averaged 3.8 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.2 assists a game.
He shot 40.8% from the field, 32.6% from behind the three-point line and 77.6 from the free-throw line. He scored in double figures 23 times, including 5 games scoring 20 or more points.
Taylor previously visited North Carolina State before arriving in Fayetteville on Saturday. Going to dinner at a local restaurant highlighted the visit for him.
“They did the 'Woo Pig Sooie' thing,” Taylor said. “That was cool seeing everybody know the same chant. That was nice. That was when I was like ok this place is special.”
On3.com rates Taylor the No. 60 player in the NCAA transfer portal. Coach Eric Musselman gave him a rundown on how the Hogs would use him if he decided to be a Razorback.
“He sees me playing the 2,” he said. “Playing a little bit of the 1 — just come in and being an impact guy, being someone who can help score. Obviously they lost a lot of guards last year to the draft, [so] someone that can impact winning and that’s what I’m here to do.”
An ESPN 3-star recruit in the 2021 class, Taylor averaged 25.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.1 steals per game as a senior at Indianapolis Perry Meridian and averaged 21.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.1 steals and 1.9 assists as a junior.
Arkansas’ facilities stood out during his tour.
“All that stuff was nice,” Taylor said. “They have nap pods in there. That’s something I’ve never seen before. The balcony in the practice gym, even Coach’s office, just everything here is nice.”
The friendliness of the coaches and people of Fayetteville warmed Taylor’s heart.
“Everybody just knows everybody,” he said. “Everybody is just so nice and genuine. So I feel like that was the biggest thing for me to just see how everybody interacts with each other and it’s just very nice here.”
Taylor describes himself as a people and family-oriented person.
“I grew up like that,” he said. “Everybody in my family, we all just love each other. Everybody looked out for each other and I feel like that’s how it is here. Especially going far from home, I want to be somewhere where I can get that same feeling.”
It appears Arkansas might be his last recruiting trip.
“I have two other visits I have planned, but I might be between here and NC State,” he said.
Taylor said a decision could possibly be made in the upcoming week.