Draft Risers: Inside UCF Forward Taylor Hendricks' Ascension into Stardom

One of the quickest risers of the 2023 NBA Draft cycle, UCF's Taylor Hendricks is a top freshman in the entire country.

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The University of Central Florida landed its biggest recruit in history when Taylor Hendricks signed with the Knights. With that in mind, he’s trending towards only playing one college season before making the ultimate leap to the NBA.

Early in this college season, Hendricks is one of the quickest risers on draft boards. Although he doesn’t play for one of the schools that typically generates top level NBA talent, he’s used the opportunity to emerge as the team’s primary offensive weapon.

A four-star recruit, the 6-foot-9 forward had offers from larger schools across most major conferences, but ultimately chose UCF due to the proximity to his home in South Florida and the family feel of the organization.

“I would just say how much of they wanted us, you know, they really made an effort to always stay in touch and try and be close,” Hendricks told Draft Digest when asked about why he chose UCF. “It seemed like they were like family. With them just like making that effort to get really close to us was really big factor.”

Growing up, Hendricks had the luxury of having a twin brother that was also a great basketball player. They’ve played on all of the same teams for more than a decade, always challenging each other to get better.

Both of the Hendricks twins currently play for the Knights and live next door to each other in the same dormitory. This has made the transition to college both on and off the court much more smooth.

With that in mind, they’re very different players and have opposite personalities. Taylor has always been the taller of the twins and has played in the frontcourt his whole life. Meanwhile, Tyler Hendricks is a 6-foot-5 guard with a very different skillset.

“I would say we're really kind of opposite, because I'm more outgoing, funny, personable, and he's definitely more quiet,” Hendricks said.

Both twins found their love for the game began as early as five years old, which was sparked by their older brother. Watching him play in their early years and challenging him in the driveway nurtured a competitive mindset early on.

It wasn’t until his early teens that Hendricks realized he had the talent to potentially play at the college level.

“In middle school, me and my brother really started to do really well then. We started getting a lot of attention, at least locally,” Hendricks told Draft Digest.

From there, he really started to make a name for himself as a freshman in high school. Around this time, Hendricks played with other top prospects like Scottie Barnes and Vernon Carey at University School in Florida. This was a pivotal moment in Hendricks’ high school career, as his game was beginning to get recognized more nationally as he took the floor with players of that caliber.

“Playing with them helped me a lot in my game my freshman year of high school,” said Hendricks.

Now as a freshman at UCF, it appears Hendricks will be joining Barnes (Toronto Raptors) and Carey (Washington Wizards) at the NBA sooner than later.

Standing at 6-foot-9, the first year forward is perfect for the modern NBA. Prospects with his level of athleticism, size and two-way impact generally end up being really good players at the next level.

The 3-point shooting for Hendricks is what has really been a catalyst in his increased draft buzz. While he wasn’t a bad perimeter shooter in high school (roughly 32% in events as a senior per Cerebro Sports), he’s become elite from beyond the arc as a college player.

Through the first 11 games of his UCF career, Hendricks is shooting 50% from deep on four attempts per game. This puts him in an elite class among freshman, especially as it relates to frontcourt players. He’s produced a team-high 15.3 points per contest as a result of the shooting success.

The uptick in 3-point shooting efficiency is a product of a ton of work over the summer. Hendricks indicated to Draft Digest that he hasn’t made any tweaks to the mechanics of his jumper. Once graduating high school and getting to campus, he had additional time as a college athlete to get in the gym and improve as a shooter.

“I mean, I‘ve pretty much shot the same way since high school, it’s just putting in more work in college which is why my percentage went up and let me shoot it better,” the freshman said. “I pride myself on being a good shooter. I feel like that opens up a lot more, benefits a lot n helping the team win.”

On the other end of the floor, Hendricks is also an outstanding defender. He’s got the size, but also the quickness and footwork to guard quite a few positions. This is something that should translate when he makes the jump to the NBA, which could allow him to defend at least three positions.

On the season, Hendricks has already blocked 18 shots to go along with seven steals before even getting to conference play.

Defense has always been something Hendricks has excelled at, dating back to his early days playing the game.

“Since high school my coaches have been telling me defense is what separates you from a lot of players,” said Hendricks. “I really pride myself on guarding the perimeter, because I feel like I can do a really great job with my length. I feel like I'm I've really good agility to stay in front of a lot of guys. When you're when you're able to be switchable like that, you can play so many different positions.”

At minimum, Hendricks already projects to be a 3-and-D forward at the next level, but has the upside to be much more. Entering this season, he was expected to be a multi-year player college player before having a chance to potentially make it to the NBA. Less than two months into his freshman year, he’s now a first-round talent in this summer’s draft.

At the rate he’s improving, he should only continue to climb boards. Hendricks’ mindset is what has allowed him to exceed expectations as a freshman. He’s the type of player that takes the court ready to do whatever the team needs to win.

“I wouldn’t say it was a hard process transitioning to college because my mindset coming into it was just trying to play my role, whether that be scoring five points a game or whatever it might have been,” said the forward. “Just trying to help the team win. Going in with that mindset to help me be able to fit in any type of role without any problem.”

When looking at Cerebro’s C-RAM metric, which combines all facets of the game into one output, Hendricks is ranked third among all freshman playing at least 30 minutes per game with a 9.9 score. The other prospects in that range are also project to be selected in the first round of the 2023 NBA Draft include Gradey Dick (Kansas), Brandon Miller (Alabama), Anthony Black (Arkansas), Cason Wallace (Kentucky) and GG Jackson (South Carolina).

So who does Hendricks think his game most resembles? In his eyes, he plays like one of the best power forward prospects to enter the NBA in recent history.

“Definitely Anthony Davis. I feel like we have like a similar body type and a similar height. Our skillset is pretty similar as well,” Hendricks told Draft Digest. “I would describing my game as a versatile, stretch big man who can guard multiple positions, and contribute to winning. Anything it takes to win.”

He would go on to say that while he plays a lot of power forward at UCF, he believes he has the versatility at the next level to also slide down to be a more perimeter-oriented wing due to his ability to stretch the floor.

Moving forward, Hendricks knows he’s still got much to improve on. Between emerging as an even more dominant scorer and continuing to help UCF win games, he knows there’s work to do. Becoming a more consistent scorer requires aggressiveness, and the 19-year-old acknowledged that there’s already been games this season in which he was too passive.

Regardless, Hendricks knows he will accomplish his goals and land where he needs to at the NBA level.

"I would just say like something that really helped me grow in all my years of basketball is just my faith in God,” said Hendricks. “Having Him, whether I played good or bad, just trusting His plan. It gives you peace of mind to go out there and just play your game. He doesn't do anything that that would hurt you in the long run, all of it is in your favor. So, you know, just trusting Him really just helped me throughout everything.”

Over the next several months, Hendricks is a prospect to keep an eye on. He’s the complete package and is just scratching the surface of his potential. 

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