Count No. 1 ranked Pittsburgh, Rutgers and St. John’s among those hot on the trail of Mike Taylor, the 6-foot-3 shooting guard out of Brooklyn Boys & Girls.
When Taylor dropped 19 points, including five 3-pointers on Lance Stephenson and Lincoln in a 71-61 victory on Jan. 6, St. John’s head coach Norm Roberts was joined by Pitt associate head coach Tom Herrion and Rutgers assistant Craig Carter.
“Mike Taylor can really shoot the ball,” said recruiting expert Tom Konchalski. “He’s a terrific 3-point shooter.”
Elmer Anderson, the Boys & Girls assistant, said St. John’s and Rutgers have offered and Pitt is extremely interested. Virginia Tech and Central Florida are also involved.
“We want to be in the Mike Taylor Sweepstakes,” Anderson quoted Herrion as saying.
Pitt has raided this area for guards in recent years. The current roster includes senior Levance Fields of Brooklyn and freshmen Travon Woodall and Ashton Gibbs of New Jersey. Isaiah Epps, the No. 8 point guard in the Class of 2010, just verbally committed to the Panthers out of Plainfield (NJ) High.
As reported here previously, Pitt is also involved with Stephenson, the 6-5 senior guard ranked No. 1 in the nation by Clark Francis.
Taylor is averaging 17 points for Boys & Girls, which meets St. Raymond’s of The Bronx on Jan. 23 in the first round of the SNY Invitational. Thomas Jefferson and Mount Vernon meet in the other game, with the winners to square off Jan. 24 in the title game at NYU’s Coles Center.
Boys & Girls also faces Jefferson in a key PSAL Brooklyn AA game on Thursday at 5 p.m.
As for Taylor’s recruiting, Anderson said: “His recruiting is already taken off considering he’s just a sophomore. When you got the No. 1 team in the country crazy about you and the associate head coach in attendance, he’ s a high-major player.”
(PHoto courtesy fiveborosports.com)
