There hasn't been a lot to cheer about for the Elon University men's basketball team in recent years. 

With the exception of an abbreviated 2020-2021 season, in which the Phoenix finished 10-9, the last full winning season came in 2016-2017.

Since joining Division I as a full member, there have been no appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Their only Division II Tournament appearance came in 1997.

To first-year Elon head coach Billy Taylor, scoreboards and stat sheets don't tell the whole story. 

Taylor, who was hired as the program's 19th head coach last April following three years as an assistant at the University of Iowa, knew the minute he set foot on the Elon campus he had made the right decision to move his family from a happy life in Iowa to a golden opportunity in North Carolina.

The school's academic reputation, combined with a continued commitment to providing the necessary tools for athletic success, convinced Taylor that Elon was the ideal fit for him and his coaching philosophy.

"I've been around this long enough to know that the scoreboard can be a liar," said Taylor, who also spent 14 seasons as the head coach at Lehigh and Ball State. "Sometimes, the scoreboard will tell you that you won, and you know in actuality you didn't win today. The scoreboard can tell you you lost, and you can know we got better today. It's about more than wins and losses. It's about how we're building the program, the culture, the young men who are getting a degree from Elon."

Those words aren't just coach speak from someone in his first year on the job. Taylor believes them with a pure conviction that would be difficult for even the most hardened skeptic to debate. He also knows what it takes to win at a high level, whether as an assistant or head coach. 

His teams have made appearances in seven NCAA Division I Tournaments. He led Lehigh to the Patriot League regular-season and tournament titles in 2004 and earned the conference's Coach of the Year Award twice in consecutive years. 

Over the past three seasons, Taylor helped Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery keep the Hawkeyes in the national rankings, capturing the 2022 Big Ten Tournament Championship. The team won 26 games last season - the the second-highest single-season win total in program history.

When Elon Director of Athletics Dave Blank and his search committee began looking for a new head coach to replace Mike Schrage, who resigned to accept a position on the staff of new Duke head coach Jon Scheyer, they kept coming back to one name: Billy Taylor.

"He's the kind of person you want your kids playing for, and he's the kind of person we want our student-athletes at Elon playing for," Blank said at the news conference announcing Taylor's hire last April.

Taylor was a four-year letter-winner at Notre Dame, where he was recruited by legendary Fighting Irish coach Digger Phelps. However, Phelps announced his retirement shortly thereafter, so Taylor played all four seasons under John MacLeod. 

Taylor reflected on that experience after taking the Phoenix job, knowing he would be building a culture around players he didn't recruit.

"Being recruited by Digger, but then playing for Coach MacLeod, I had the opportunity to go through the transition that our guys (at Elon) are going through and went through back in April," he explained. "So, I understand playing for a coach that didn't recruit you... I get it, I've been there."

One of those players is Torrence Watson, a 6-foot-5, 199-pound graduate senior guard/forward from St. Louis. 

Last season, Watson ranked fourth on the team in scoring (9.2 points per game) and averaged 3.0 rebounds. He transferred to the Phoenix from Missouri, where he spent three seasons with the Tigers.

Watson believes Taylor has injected new energy and enthusiasm into the team as the season begins.

"It's been phenomenal, just building that culture, trying to make sure everything fits in the right place," Watson said during CAA Virtual Media Day. "As we go, we're just building and getting better."

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After obtaining a degree in accounting and computer applications, Taylor earned his CPA license and spent three years at an accounting firm. But when MacLeod offered him the chance to join his staff as an assistant, Taylor couldn't say no.

"I really had no intention of going into coaching," he recalled. "I feel really blessed that Coach MacLeod, someone I played for who didn't recruit me, offered me an opportunity to join his staff. I thought it would be something really fun and exciting to do, but I had no idea this would be my calling in life for the next 20-plus years."

Along with his stints at Lehigh, Ball State and Notre Dame, Taylor also served as head coach at Belmont Abby College for three seasons. 

In 1999, McCaffery offered him an assistant coaching position at UNC Greensboro. Taylor credits McCaffery, who also was on MacLeod's staff at Notre Dame, for being a great friend and mentor.

"Our relationship is quite special," Taylor said. "It goes back over 30 years now. Our families are very close. I learned a ton from him, not just from a basketball standpoint, but how to be a leader, how to manage a program."

This past August, the team took a trip to Italy as part of the school's commitment to diversity and global engagement. The players got to travel to Rome, Florence, Venice and other cities and took in popular attractions, such as the Leaning Tower of Pisa and Uffizi Gallery.

The experience was one of the other factors that attracted Taylor to the head coaching job. 

While at Notre Dame, he took part in a summer internship with the accounting firm that eventually offered him a full-time position after graduation. He believes such experiences are invaluable to student-athletes.

"Looking at the academic background of Elon University, the continued commitment to growth they have from an academic standpoint... I was sold on the vision of this university and its athletics program," Taylor said.

For Watson, the trip provided an opportunity to form a stronger bond with his teammates.

"It really brought us closer to each other, not only the team but the coaching staff," Watson explained.

Building a winning culture often takes time. Taylor knows this but believes the results will come with hard work and patience.

"There's a lot to be learned, a lot of growth that still needs to happen," he said. "Hopefully, we're pursuing something greater than just winning a game here or there. We're pursuing excellence and we're doing that on a daily basis."