Colby Taylor to play in Spain

Colby Taylor will soon become the second Creston graduate to play as a professional athlete in Spain.

The 2017 Central College graduate will leave in about 10 days to join the ULE ALN Fundacion CB team in Leon in northwest Spain that is part of the EBA, one of several professional basketball leagues in Spain.

“There are seven (professional) leagues in Spain, and this is considered the fourth league,” said Central College’s career scoring leader. “Matt Thomas of Iowa State recently signed with the top league.”

The seventh-month season begins in early October, and Taylor said the team wants him to arrive and begin practicing about 10 days prior to the first scrimmage on Sept. 21.

“We don’t know the exact date of our flight yet, because the team is allowed to have two Americans on its roster and they want to sign the other one and have us both fly on the same trip,” Taylor said. “They’re still working on that other signing.”

Former Iowa quarterback Kyle McCann of Creston played one season in NFL Europe for the FC Barcelona Dragons in 2003.

Now, Taylor embarks on his own adventure. He said by pure coincidence, a former Central College teammate played on the Leon team a few years ago and has been helpful.

Matt Greenfield was a senior at Central when Taylor was a freshman, and played in Spain EBA’s team in Leon in 2015.

“I had emailed my resume and highlights to some agents,” Taylor said. “One of the agents emailed back and asked for some game film. Then a week and a half later he said a team from Spain liked me and had an offer. The team sounded familiar so I texted Matt. He said that was the team he played for one year. He said it’s a good place to start out. He said the owner and GM are still there and they treat the players well. They were pretty successful last year.”

Most players in the league Taylor joins are young in the professional ranks, looking to move up to a higher league the following years. Greenfield had such an opportunity, but returned to the United States and is now living in Des Moines.

Career choice

Taylor graduated with a 3.37 GPA in actuarial science with a minor in economics and was a third-team Academic All-American last season. He’s postponing an actuary career that would be more lucrative than playing basketball overseas, yet is grateful for the opportunity.

“I always wanted to go to Europe,” Taylor said. “I couldn’t study abroad at Central, because basketball took place in both semesters. I just think it’s a great opportunity to go over and see the architecture and some sights, and play basketball for a little longer.”

The team asked him not to discuss all the terms of the contract, but Taylor said it’s enough to be comfortable during those months.

“They cover my flight out and back, my apartment and utilities plus three meals a day,” Taylor said. “There is a cash stipend on top of that. They said to get around the city is big enough (130,000 population) to have transit and a teammate could always help me get somewhere. The facility where we play is close enough to walk to.”

As for the style of basketball, Taylor was told by Greenfield that the transition should be smooth.

“From what I’ve heard, the players are maybe a little more skilled and slightly more athletic than what we had in Division III, but it’s not a huge difference,” Taylor said. “I think they’re bringing me in to take the place of a player who moved up a league who was at the three - small forward - position.”

School records

The 6-6, 190-pounder who played anywhere from shooting guard to a high post at Central had a versatile game for the Dutch. The four-year starter scored 1,856 career points. He also set school records in career double-doubles (33), 3-point field goals made (233), free throw percentage (85.0), consecutive free throws made (33) and ranks second in all-time rebounds (890). He had 21 rebounds in a game against Simpson as a sophomore.

Taylor was first-team All-Iowa Conference as a junior and senior and on the second team as a sophomore. He was first-team D3hoops All-West Region last season. Last year year he averaged 20.7 points, 8.0 rebounds and shot 47 percent from 3-point range (69-147).

Taylor got exposure at two tryout camps after his collegiate season concluded.

In late May he was among 60 to 70 players at a camp in Chicago that was live-streamed overseas for scouts and coaches to observe.

“They had some D-1, D-2, D-3 and NAIA players there and the competition was OK,” Taylor said. “I played fairly decent. We had a day of shooting mixed in with some athletic measurements and combine stuff like sprints and box drills. The second day we played games against two other teams.”

Taylor said a second camp for prospects in Las Vegas in mid-July had more players from some of the nation’s major colleges. Among them was former University of Iowa player Gabriel Olaseni.

“The competition was quite a bit better there,” Taylor said. “It was mostly D-1 and D-2, sprinkled in with some of us from NAIA and D-3. I got some information from teams there, but never had an agreement on a deal. I used the list we got there to start emailing agents and heard from one, Guillermo Pascual. He got me connected with the team in Leon.”

As Taylor looks at it, he has a chance to extend his basketball career with an added perk.

“I don’t have to get a real job yet,” he said, “and I get to see the world!”