“In terms of this year, things are different. I’m an upperclassman now, so I am responsible for leading our guys on and off the court and being an example of Christ,” said junior center Pete Combs.
Taylor’s men’s basketball team started the 2025-2026 season 4-2 after their win against the Holy Cross Crusaders. Led by Combs and junior guard Isaiah Day, the Trojans have gone 2-0 at home and 1-2 on the road.
The team saw many players leave after the end of last season, but has brought on seven new faces. Among them are five freshmen: TJ Davidson, Anor Wogar, Carson Gould, Dylan Deluca and Nathan Baker.
Coach Peters and his team have made a point to glorify God through the sport of basketball. The upperclassmen have stepped up to guide the team to a Christ-centered culture that focuses on growth on and off the court.
“Building that chemistry with those guys can be challenging, but it’s been good. It’s tough to lose scoring and having to fill those holes from last year, but I love these guys,” said Combs.
Sophomore guard Joey Heaston has seen and learned from the leadership on the team. He has admired coach Peters and the work he and his staff have put into building the team after losing so many players.
“Pursuing excellence in all things, big or small, is the key to success. And the pursuit of excellence is not done by being excellent one day and mediocre the next,” said Heaston. “Excellence is consistent; day by day, practice by practice, and possession by possession, and the fruit of that is playing the game to the best of your ability.”
This strategy goes into game preparation and practice, too. The team looks to their successes and mistakes rather than their opponents. In their early start, the coaching staff plans to emphasize offensive rebounds, turnover and assist ratio, winning the war in the paint, being resilient and getting out early.
For Combs, it meant stepping up in the scoring and rebounding. Last season, he averaged seven points and two rebounds per game. So far this season, he has averaged 17 points while shooting 65 percent from the field and averaging eight rebounds a game.
While Combs leads by example on the court through his gameplay, he also leads off the court. He wants his teammates to see Christ through how he acts and what he does.
“I think that’s when leadership becomes more than playing,” said Combs. “Trying to be an example of Christ, helping to lead my team to success on the court and in their faith off the court.”
That mindset is what the team is searching for as they continue to figure out the team chemistry. Even with the new roster, Taylor has been on a roll.
Over the last six games, the Trojans have averaged 84 points per game. They are shooting 46 percent from the field with 33.9 percent of their three-pointers made. They are also averaging 44 rebounds and 17.7 assists per game.
Putting up a total of 506 points, Day and Combs combined for 203 of those points. Taylor has only allowed their opponents to score a joint 466 points.
Coach Peters saw many positives from last season and came into this season wanting to see growth, but not too much change. He is proud of the work his team has put in and the number of adjustments they had to make with the new roster.
“We are focused on us,” Peters said. “We can only control what we can control.”
Taylor’s next games are against two ranked conference opponents. No. 4 Grace College and No. 1 Indiana Wesleyan University take on the Trojans to wrap up November.
