North Carolina State University Athletics
Hats Off to Conor
5/31/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
May 31, 2005
RALEIGH, N.C. - Following the 2003 season, first year men's tennis head coach Jon Choboy was trying everything he could to turn the tide with the struggling Wolfpack program. With six quiet Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) victories in the five seasons before he took over, Choboy and assistant coach Matt Halfpenny faced a daunting challenge in resurrecting a program that had floundered since the departure of J.W. Isenhour as head coach following the 1981 season. All of that seemed to change when a red-headed lad from Dublin jumped aboard.
Enter Conor Taylor, a talented Ireland native with an incredible prep resume. Before signing with NC State, Taylor had competed twice for the Irish senior team in the Four Nations tournament and advanced to the semi-finals of the Senior Irish Nationals on three occasions. Taylor even honed his court skills by training with some of his native land's top pro performers, including Peter Clarke, Stephen Nugent and David Mullins.
In addition to spending time ranked as the No. 6 prep player in all of Ireland, Taylor was a whiz in the classroom. After receiving his bachelor's degree in business studies with honors from Dublin City University, Taylor was looking to further his playing days, as well as his education, by working towards a master's degree.
Fielding plenty of calls and letters from American schools eager for him to enroll, Taylor narrowed his offers down to Northwestern, Rice and NC State. However, it was a friend of Taylor's, and a former player of Choboy's, that influenced him to run with the Wolfpack.
"My friend Nick Malone played for coach Choboy when he was at Brown and he spoke very highly of him," Taylor said. "Coach did a lot of great things for the programs at Brown and Charleston Southern, and I just felt like it was right for me to come to North Carolina State. North Carolina is a lovely place, the people are very nice and we are in a great conference, so I thought that State was the place for me."
But coming to America would prove to be one of the biggest challenges facing Taylor. After all, the self-proclaimed U2 fanatic was going to have to do without following Bono and his beloved Manchester United as closely as he had been. Gone would be the city lights and vibrant atmosphere of Dublin, as well as the friends and family that had played such an important role in his life. Instead, the promise of a new tennis facility and a college career were ready to greet him with open arms. Taylor took his chances, and before too long, he was comfortable in his new surroundings.
"Dublin is a really vibrant and lively city," Taylor said. "When I came over here, everything was much quieter, but my relationship with my coaches and teammates was so good that everything fell into place in a couple weeks. It took about a month and a half to get used to the courts and the intensity of the practices over here, but I was so welcomed to the area by everyone that I felt like I was a part of the program instantly."
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In only two years with the Pack, Taylor's presence in the program, along with some heavily-lauded recruiting classes, completely transformed the direction of the program. According to coach Choboy, it's no coincidence that Taylor was on board when the ship started to sail in the right direction.
"He had a really strong impact on us in the two years that he was here," said Choboy. "Conor is one of the guys that really competed hard for us nonstop and won matches. He helped to get everyone to buy into what we were trying to do here and he showed people that we could compete with the best of them."
During his first season with the red and white, Taylor finished the year with a No. 63 national singles ranking by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), as well as an NCAA singles invitation. With the second-best record at No. 1 singles in the ACC, 5-3, Taylor led the Wolfpack with 38 total wins and won back-to-back matches three different times during spring duals play. In his path of destruction, he took down Florida State's two-time ACC Player of the Year Matt Cloer (No. 20 ITA), Nicholas Monroe (No. 31) of North Carolina and Izak van der Merwe (No. 13) of Old Dominion. Those three victories still serve, in Taylor's mind, as the highlight of his playing career at NC State.
"My first year here, I went on a very good stretch," Taylor said. "I took down the No. 13 player in the country and I downed two big conference players, but every match that I played at State was tough. I was always playing in the No. 1 spot, so every opponent that I faced was a challenge. That was the best thing for my game though, because I had the opportunity to work and improve against top-rate competition."
But with that first year's success in one of the nation's toughest conferences, Taylor convinced himself to come back and do even more during his final year. Finishing spring play in 2005 with a 6-18 slate, Taylor didn't quite live up to the expectations, or the pressure, that he had set for himself before the season got off the ground.
"I felt a lot of pressure this year, but I put all of that pressure on myself. I wanted to do well, as I do in everything. I'm sure that it affected my play, but like everything else, it's just something to learn from."
According to Choboy, Taylor's predicament was a situation all too familiar among tennis players.
"Conor had an extremely successful year during his first season with us," Choboy said. "At one point he was ranked 36th in the nation and I think that this past season he wanted to do more. The only problem was that, because of his success one year earlier, his name was out and people were really making a point to prepare for him. Everyone was after Conor this year."
As if Taylor wasn't already a marked man going into the spring, the team faced a grueling list of competitors that, some might say, formed the toughest schedule in program history. While the challenge was daunting, the team performed well, downing five ranked teams and collecting its most wins since the 1988 season. The season ended abruptly when the team just missed out on an NCAA tournament bid. "I was really upset that we didn't make the NCAA's this season," Taylor said. "I felt bad because I didn't have my best season this past year and if I had played a little bit better, it might have gotten the team into the tournament."
While his success was apparent on the court, Taylor was taking complete advantage of his educational opportunity when he wasn't competing. From spending time in study halls to secluding himself in his room, Taylor studied and strolled past his graduate courses en route to grabbing a master's degree in liberal studies. While at State, Taylor was a Caterpillar Scholar Athlete and an All-ACC Honor Roll selection.
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"There's a lot of work involved with being a student-athlete and trying to do good in the class and on the court," Taylor said. "I did whatever it took to be successful at everything that I became involved with. "
Apparently, that included tutoring his teammates. "Conor served as a great example, both on and off the court, especially to the younger guys on the team," Choboy said. "On road trips he would proofread papers for the other guys and help them out in subjects that they might have questions about."
"He was extremely appreciative of the opportunity to come here and play tennis," assistant coach Halfpenny said. "He realized what he had been given and he certainly took advantage of it by playing great on the court and doing so well in the classroom."
With his final season behind him now, and his days in Raleigh quickly drawing to a close, Taylor seems more than content with his time here. With his master's degree in hand and a memory full of his experiences in North Carolina, Taylor is ready to return home, if only for a short time.
"The last two years have been a great life experience for me," Taylor said. "I've met some great people and I've had an unbelievable time. I'll never forget these two years, but home is home. I can't wait to get back and see my family and friends, take in a soccer game and hang out in the city. But I'd love to come back. I'd love to find a job in Raleigh and move back after the summer."
The idea of returning to the area sounds like a sentiment that would be echoed by the many friends, teammates and coaches that Taylor has come across during his time at NC State. Even if he doesn't wind up returning to Raleigh, one thing is for sure; Taylor won't be forgotten anytime soon.
"Conor put us in the right direction and he left us in much better shape than we were in when he got here," Choboy remarked. "He's a super person and really someone that you can count on at all times. He'll always be there for you and we'll always be there for him."
