Mike Taylor was among the talented local players who spent this week at the Rutgers Skills Development Camp.
The 6-foot-3 rising junior shooting guard out of Brooklyn Boys & Girls is a star on the rise and holds a slew of major offers.
“It was good, it was a nice workout,” Taylor said by phone. “We didn’t scrimmage. We were just working out. There were a couple of former NBA coaches there.”
Among other players attending the camp were Jayvaughn Pinkston and Brandon Frazier of Bishop Loughlin; Myles Mack, Derrick Randall and Kyle Anderson of Paterson Catholic; and Myles Davis and Dallas Angler of St. Peter’s Prep.
“Before we went to lunch Coach [Jimmy] Carr took us on a tour of the campus. It’s very big and nice,” Taylor said.
Taylor holds offers from Indiana, Maryland, Providence, Pittsburgh, Louisville, St. John’s and Rutgers, according to Boys & Girls assistant Elmer Anderson.
“I really dont’t have any favorites right now,” Taylor said. “I’ll probably wait till the beginning or middle of my senior year to commit.”
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.”
Taylor later hit the game-winner at the buzzer against Thomas Jefferson in the consolation game of the SNY Invitational in January.
Taylor heads to the St. John’s Elite Camp beginning Wednesday (today} but won’t attend any of the major camps this summer.
“We want him to get ahead in his core classes so that next summer he’s free to go to every camp that he’s invited to,” Anderson said.
With Stephenson headed to Cincinnati for college ball, Taylor and his Boys & Girls teammates are dreaming of a PSAL championship.
“He was our nemesis for three years but we’re happy he’s gone and it’s Mike’s turn to bring a couple championships to Boys & Girls High School,” Anderson said.
***
FREE THROWS
Holy Cross will interview alum Rod Baker, the head coach of the Rochester franchise in the ABA, according to Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com. Notre Dame associate Sean Kearney and Pittsburgh associate Tom Herrion remain the favorites…Markus Kennedy, a 6-8, Villanova-bound forward, is in search of a school after Living Faith Academy in Cherry Hill, N.J. closed down, according to Alex Schwartz. Kennedy could return to St. Patrick of Elizabeth, but is also considering Penn Wood (Pa), Neumann-Goretti (Pa.) and Academy of the New Church (Pa.)
PIERCE & STOUDEMIRE ROSTERS
The Paul Pierce and Amar’e Stoudemire Nike Elite Camps took place earlier this week. Here are the rosters.
PAUL PIERCE HIGH SCHOOL ROSTER
27 Harrison Barnes 6-8 209 84 ½ 2010 Ames/Ames, IA
15 Will Barton 6-6 161 81 ½ 2010 Lake Clifton/Baltimore, MD
30 Daniel Bejarano 6-3 ½ 204 77 2010 North/Phoenix, AZ
11 James Bell 6-5 ½ 217 80 ½ 2010 Montverde/Orlando, FL
4 Wayne Blackshear 6-5 205 82 ½ 2011 Morgan Park/Chicago, IL
23 Gerard Coleman 6-5 168 81 ½ 2010 Tilton/Boston, MA
21 Trevor Cooney 6-4 185 75 2011 Sanford/Wilmington, DE
33 Andre Dawkins 6-4 ½ 196 80 2010 Atlantic Shores/Chesapeake, VA
2 Crandall Head 6-3 186 80 2010 Crane/Chicago, IL
10 Keala King 6-5 ½ 180 76 ½ 2010 Dominguez/Los Angeles, CA
20 Trevor Lacey 6-1 ½ 187 77 2011 Butler/Huntsville, AL
22 Doron Lamb 6-3 ½ 183 78 2010 Oak Hill/Laurelton, NY
12 Justin Martin 6-6 191 82 2010 Lawrence North/Indianapolis, IN
14 JT Terrell 6-3 165 81 2010 Cummings/Burlington, NC
28 Ralston Turner 6-5 ½ 193 77 2010 Muscle Shoals/Muscle Shoals, AL
3 Frank Williams 6-5 151 79 2010 Raytown/Raytown, MO
7 Trey Ziegler 6-5 183 81 2011 Mount Pleasant/Mount Pleasant, MI
PAUL PIERCE COLLEGE ROSTER
No. Name Hgt. Wgt. Wingspan Class College
6 Marshan Brooks 6-4 197 83 ½ Junior Providence
8 Patrick Christopher 6-5 ½ 218 81 ½ Senior California-Berkley
32 Manny Harris 6-5 ½ 183 78 ½ Sophomore Michigan
9 Ricky Harris 6-1 ½ 191 75 Senior Massachusetts
1 Cory Higgins 6-4 ½ 183 79 Sophomore Colorado
19 Demetri McCamey 6-2 ½ 201 76 ½ Junior Illinois
18 E’Twaun Moore 6-4 189 79 Junior Purdue
5 Ryan Thompson 6-5 223 80 Senior Rider
37 Edwin Ubiles 6-6 ½ 198 82 Senior Siena
13 Greivis Vasquez 6-6 200 79 Senior Maryland
AMAR’E HIGH SCHOOL ROSTER
18 Travis Carroll 6-9 219 80.5 2010 Danville/Danville, IN
16 Rakeem Christmas 6-9 222 88.5 2011 North Catholic/Philadelphia, PA
19 DaJuan Coleman 6-8 281 85.5 2012 Jamesville-DeWitt/Syracuse, NY
20 Malcolm Gilbert 6-11 214 88 2011 Academy of New Church/Smyrna, DE
21 Tobias Harris 6-8 210 83 2010 Half Hollow Hills West/Dix Hill, NY
15 James Johnson 6-9 ½ 212 84 2010 Samuel Morse/Mildomar, CA
22 Perry Jones 6-10 ½ 220 86.5 2010 Duncanville/Duncanville, TX
14 Markus Kennedy 6-8 ½ 268 83 2010 Living Faith Christian/Philadelphia, PA
23 Alex Kirk 6-9 ½ 226 87 2010 Los Alamos/Los Alamos, NM
24 Meyers Leonard 7-0 215 87 2010 Robinson/Robinson, IL
25 Nate Lubick 6-8 ½ 222 82.5 2010 St. Mark’s/Southborough, MA
26 Fabricio Melo 7-0 274 87 2010 Sagemont School/Weston, FL
27 Johnny O’Bryant 6-8 218 86 2011 East Side/Cleveland, MS
12 Adreian Payne 6-9 215 84 2010 Jefferson/Dayton, OH
13 Dwight Powell 6-10 212 84 2010 IMG Academy/Melrose, MA
28 Jared Sullinger 6-9 262 83.5 2010 Northland/Columbus, OH
29 Okaro White 6-8 180 83 2010 Clearwater/Clearwater, FL
11 Patric Young 6-9 222 85 2010 Paxon School/Jacksonville, FL
AMAR’E COLLEGE ROSTER
30 Cole Aldrich 6-11 242 90 Junior Kansas
31 Jeff Allen 6-7 258 86 Junior Virginia Tech
32 Keith Benson 6-10 ½ 215 88 Junior Oakland
5 Denis Clemente 6-0 163 71.5 Senior Kansas State
33 Dwayne Collins 6-7 ½ 236 88.5 Senior Miami
34 Yancy Gates 6-9 274 87 Sophomore Cincinnati
35 JaJuan Johnson 6-10 208 86 Junior Purdue
36 Jerome Jordan 7-0 ½ 245 90 Senior Tulsa
2 Jeremy Lin 6-3 ½ 193 75 Senior Harvard
37 Greg Monroe 6-11 243 86 Sophomore Georgetown
3 Jerome Randle 5-10 165 68 Sophomore California
38 Larry Sanders 6-10 217 90.5 Junior Virginia Commonwealth
4 Calvin Stoudemire Sophomore LeMoyne-Owen College
39 Tony Woods 6-11 232 86.5 Sophomore Wake Forest
**Height measured in sneakers and weight measured without sneakers
(Photo courtesy FiveBoroSports.com)
