For Vian’s Londell Taylor, it’s not how he started or how he finished — so to speak.

Well before his trek began toward athletic hero status in the Vian school sports scene, he and his longtime friend, neighbor and future teammate, Seth Sloan, were playing on a riding mower. The two little kids drove the mower into a ditch and flipped it atop the two of them.

Just last week, after finishing his senior baseball season, he burned his throwing arm pouring gasoline on a brush fire. As was the case the first time, he dodged major injuries.

On the in between, talk to anyone associated with Vian athletics and they’ll tell you about his 100 percent dedication, practice or game time. It’s a large part of what helped him achieve this year’s Phoenix Male Athlete of the Year award.

But hold off just a second on the perfect attendance medal for Taylor, who on Friday was the only area senior named to the All-State baseball team.

There was this one occasion during basketball season when a trip to Conway, Ark., beckoned. It was, as it would have seemed at the time, Londell’s best chance to play college football as the University of Central Arkansas invited him for a visit.

That night, his hoops teammates were upended by Okay.

“Three weeks later,” said Vian basketball coach Leland Williams, “he was back and we played them again. We beat them pretty handily.”

That’s the kind of impact Taylor had, be it football, basketball or baseball. He was a key component in getting the Wolverines within fingertip reach of three gold balls. His 65-yard third-quarter interception return had the Wolverines up 20-14 against Millwood in the Class 2A football championship game in December before losing by one point. It was his length-of-the floor dribble and basket in the final 10 seconds of regulation that enabled Vian to send the area consolation final to overtime and eventually, with the win, to the 3A state basketball tournament for the first time ever.

The conquered opponent, Spiro, would again feel his pain in baseball. Taylor took a no-hitter into the seventh but maintained a 1-0 shutout to ticket Vian for the 3A baseball state tournament. Early on in that game after walking two batters to load the bases in the first inning, Taylor recovered by striking out the side.

In football, he caught 47 passes for 1,171 yards and 16 touchdowns and had nine interceptions for four touchdowns. He led the basketball team in scoring (13.0) and rebounds (10.4). In baseball, he hit .543 and was one RBI short of leading the team in every offensive category.

He was an All-Phoenix selection in all three sports.

And, as it turned out, there would be more scholarship opportunities than UCA. There was that trip to the University of North Carolina, where current assistant coach (and former OU coach) John Blake and other staff watched Vian and Taylor play basketball in the Jay Tournament on Jan. 22. Blake returned to Oklahoma with UNC head coach Butch Davis, a Tahlequah native and former head coach of Miami (Fla.) and the NFL’s Cleveland Browns, and defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano to watch Taylor’s team play at Hulbert on Jan. 30, the Tuesday before he visited the Tar Heels.

While on that trip to Chapel Hill, N.C., Vian football coach Brandon Tyler’s name came across Taylor’s cell phone. Bob Stoops wanted to speak to him. The coach of the team of Taylor’s childhood dreams.

“That’s a jersey we wore all the time growing up, playing in the end zone at high school games,” Taylor said. “Chapel Hill was really nice, but we’re talking about the University of Oklahoma. I thought he (Tyler) was joking.”