It didn't take long for Johnny Taylor to realize the basketball knowledge and skill his son Layne possessed may have been a bit further along than he originally thought.
One youth basketball showcase sold him.
"He had 58 points in an Upward game," said the elder Taylor, who's been the head coach at Farmington since 2020 but has been coaching for more than two decades. "My wife was sitting beside me, and she was yelling, 'Tell him to pass it.' I told her, 'I'm not his coach, his coach likes winning.' He was in first grade then."
The winning formula Layne Taylor helped create in elementary school accompanied him all the way through high school, and it never expired. It also turns out that his future coach indeed does like winning because the two did quite a bit of it over the past four seasons.
"People always ask me when did I know Layne would be special, and I would tell them literally from birth," Johnny Taylor said. "He actually makes me look smart as a coach. Layne allows me to coach him harder than anybody else. Every coach says your best player has to be the hardest worker, your best player has to be the most coachable, your best player has to be your toughest.
"For me, that's been true."
What Johnny Taylor saw in his son years ago when he was a young kid is what others have gotten a chance to witness on the high school level. And Layne's final go-around as a senior with the Cardinals put a capper on just how big of an effect he's had on not only his school but the state's high school basketball in general.
The 5-10 guard averaged 25.3 points, 6.6 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game for Farmington, which came within a game winning its first boys state title this season before losing to defending champion Little Rock Christian in the final. Even in defeat, Taylor did what he's done time and time again since he was a freshman.
He finished with a game-high 40 points to help the Cardinals stay in contention for as long as they could against the Warriors, but the loss did little to sully the career of a player who'll go down as one of the state's best ever.
"We said all year that pressure was a privilege, and knowing that everyone's coming for you means you're doing something right," said Taylor, who's the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas Preps Boys Player of the Year. "We kind of got it rolling a little bit. Of course, we didn't finish it off like we wanted to, but I think as a team, we kind of changed Farmington basketball as far as how it's viewed across the state.
"We looked at all of it as a good thing."
Whenever Taylor was on the floor, great things usually happened. The Cardinals went 124-12 and captured four regular-season and conference tournament titles with him. Farmington also won three regional titles and was among the final eight teams during state tournament play three times.
That consistency came while having a bull's eye placed on the team's back, but they were more than up for it. The Cardinals, whose losses this season were to three teams -- Springdale Har-Ber, Benton, Little Rock Christian -- that advanced to at least the state semifinals, won all 14 of its 4A-1 Conference games by 33 points or more.
That dominance, according to Taylor, wasn't always what it seemed.
"We got everyone's best shot all year," he said. "Teams that we were probably 20 or 30 points better than would at times play with us. Aside from that, our team was shaped completely different than it was last year, especially early, and that was kind of tough. The last couple of years we've been known for defending, but we were a lot better offensively this year than what we've been in the past.
"A lot of the roles were different, too, and that forced us to kind of play different. But by the end of the season, we'd kind of figured things out."
Taylor seemingly had things figured out every time he suited up. He's always been a top-tier scorer, which is backed up by the 61-point outing he had as a sophomore that set the program's single-game record or the 41-point night he had against Subiaco Academy in the 4A-North Regional final in February.
He ranks third on the state's all-time scoring list, but Taylor is also just as willing to pass, which is why he'll graduate as Arkansas' all-time leader in assists with more than 600.
The next step for Taylor could be his toughest. He's signed with North Texas where he'll likely compete immediately for starting spot on a team that went 18-14 this season and lost to Florida Atlantic in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament.
"I'm excited for him," Johnny Taylor said. "He's ready to hear a new message from a different voice. He's been hearing the same message from me for years. Just so happy to see what's in store."
Taylor mentioned that he's equally anxious to get to Denton, Texas, and begin preparing with other Mean Green players.
"I'm really excited to learn and get better when I get there," he said. "I can't wait to work out, especially being around guys that love the game of basketball and obsess over it. That's the vibe I've gotten from all of the coaching staff.
"Just being able to compete with guys at that level, it's going to be fun."