![\"\"](\"https:\/\/platform.midmajormadness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/106\/2026\/01\/2026.01.16-Elon.webp?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cWe had some guys really step up,\u201d Taylor noted. \u201cRandall Pettus made some big ones down the stretch, Bryson Cokley, Chandler Cuthrell, so we had guys step up and make their free throws down the stretch, which allowed us to close the game and continue to play with a lead.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Claxton felt Hofstra beat ultimately itself with mistakes, he conceded of Elon, \u201cGive them credit. They made some tough shots down the stretch.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adapting further from the Northeastern loss, Elon made sure it didn\u2019t settle from the perimeter again while thoroughly dominating Hofstra by a tone-setting 28-4 margin in the paint during the opening half. Although that category was even (12-12) in the second half, the damage was already done for the Pride.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur coach emphasized not settling for jump shots like our last game,\u201d Cuthrell said. \u201cWe felt like we shot ourselves in the foot by just shooting the ball the whole game rather than penetrating the defense and getting to the basket.\u201d<\/p>\n
Along the same lines, Taylor said of the paint production, \u201cIt\u2019s always important for us. We love to shoot 3s, but you have to have balance to your offense, and I thought we were able to get the ball to the paint early and to the free throw line, which was really important for us, especially on the road, [where] you can\u2019t just live and die with jump shots. I thought we did a nice job of having a good mixture today.\u201d<\/p>\n
So far this season, it hasn\u2019t mattered to Elon that seemingly no one gave the Phoenix a chance to be among the CAA contenders.<\/p>\n
Of course, Elon \u2013 which likewise started 4-2 within the CAA last year, but then went 4-8 to finish with yet another losing conference record (8-10) \u2013 still has to prove it can sustain its early-season success this year.<\/p>\n
And the Phoenix, which was a 9 seed twice and an 11 seed once in the CAA tournament over the past three years, has yet to win a CAA tournament game under Taylor, and hasn\u2019t won one since the asterisked, Covid-shortened 2021 season, when Elon lost under former head coach Mike Schrage as an No. 8 seed in the CAA finals to No. 6-seed Drexel.<\/p>\n
However, not only what the Phoenix have done thus far in CAA play, but also during their earlier non-conference schedule this season may suggest that Elon could be a lot tougher out in this year\u2019s league tournament.<\/p>\n
In December, the Phoenix drilled one of the better Southern Conference teams (Wofford) by 21 points on the road before later upsetting Atlantic 10 opponent Richmond by three points at home, and surprisingly taking Atlantic Coast Conference foe Virginia Tech to overtime in a one-point road loss.<\/p>\n
It seems that being taken lightly has helped Elon.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all understand what we have in the room,\u201d Cuthrell said. \u201cWe knew that, obviously, from the outside, looking in, that nobody really expected us to do anything, but we\u2019ve used that as motivation and fuel to go out there each and every single day and play hard, and give ourselves [moments] like this [win at Hofstra].\u201d<\/p>\n
The confidence from Elon\u2019s good start is very possibly building toward something greater.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes us very dangerous,\u201d Cuthrell said. \u201cWe\u2019re not a team that other teams can just sleep on. The same way that we\u2019ve got to go out there and compete every game, the other team has to do that as well. That\u2019s our motto.\u201d<\/p>\n
Being a very cohesive, tight-knit group has only helped, as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe always make sure that we stay together no matter what, whether we win or lose,\u201d Cuthrell added. \u201cWe make sure that nobody branches off. We always make sure that it\u2019s positive vibes each and every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n
The combination of Taylor and Cuthrell leading the Phoenix after each passed through different stops and learned along the way has been a good fit for Elon\u2019s resurgence to this point in the year.<\/p>\n
Cuthrell started only one game of the 62 he evenly split as a freshman at Texas-San Antonio (where averaged 4.9 points per game) and as a sophomore at Purdue Fort Wayne (where he scored 7.4 points per game) before the Baltimore native made a major leap to start every one of the Phoenix\u2019s games this season while so far challenging for the CAA scoring title.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a blessing,\u201d Cuthrell said. \u201cOur coaches, they believe in us, each and every single day. That\u2019s one thing I noticed when I first got here, how much love and support [they have for the players], and how much confidence our coaches have in us, and they instill that into us. It goes from our coaches, to our point guards, [who] always make sure the floor is organized, to make sure we\u2019re in the right spots to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for his own journey, after being recruited by Notre Dame legend Digger Phelps in the early 1990s, and playing at Notre Dame under longtime college and NBA head coach John McLeod, Taylor became an assistant coach at Notre Dame in 1998-99 and then an assistant at UNC Greensboro. From there, Taylor was a head coach at Lehigh and Ball State, and then had two separate assistant stints at Iowa, with a head-coaching stop at Division II Belmont Abbey in between, before eventually completing his circuitous route to Elon.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of those experiences factor in, and I\u2019m very blessed with my basketball journey,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cI played at the highest level, I played at Notre Dame, I coached there, I\u2019ve been at the Big Ten at Iowa and won a Big Ten championship, and I\u2019ve coached in Division II, and I\u2019ve loved every step along the way. Belmont Abbey was a great stop [which] allowed me to navigate the transfer portal, the new era that we\u2019re in with college basketball, but I love what we\u2019ve been building here at Elon, and I\u2019m very grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those sentiments are surely shared by Elon fans so far this season as they hope to see Taylor, Cuthrell and the Phoenix continue to rise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. \u2013 Through a closed door, a jubilant celebration could be heard among the victorious Elon Phoenix…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":526032,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,1587,56907,1589,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-526031","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-arizona","10":"tag-az","11":"tag-colonial-athletic-association","12":"tag-phoenix","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-united-states-of-america","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","17":"tag-us","18":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115918319499374151","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=526031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}