Recruiting report: Jalen Taylor (2017)
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Jalen Taylor has emerged this season as one of the Kansas City area’s premier senior wing players. A 6’5 2017 forward, Taylor has helped Piper to a 16-2 record and a No. 3 state ranking in…
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Continue ReadingKANSAS CITY, Kan. — Jalen Taylor has emerged this season as one of the Kansas City area’s premier senior wing players.
A 6’5 2017 forward, Taylor has helped Piper to a 16-2 record and a No. 3 state ranking in the latest 4A-1 poll. He is a long, athletic wing player that can attack the basket and pull up from the mid-range. He leads the team in scoring at 15.4 points per game and rebounding at 10 per game while shooting nearly 60 percent from the field.
He has led the Pirates to five straight wins heading into today’s game against Bishop Ward.
“We play great together as a team and share the ball and run our offense until we get the shot that we want,” Taylor said. “The team expects big things from me because of my size and ability.”
Taylor says the highlight for Piper this season was beating Basehor-Linwood twice this season after not beating the school in 10 years.
He spent the offseason competing for Team KC and said he focused on working hard and performing in front of college coaches. He has drawn interest from several program from varying levels, including St. Mary’s, University of Jamestown, Iowa Central CC, KCKCC, but says he is still waiting to see what other schools show interest and is keeping his options open.
Taylor says his parents have been the biggest influence on his basketball career.
“They always push me to work hard and are always giving me motivation before every game and stress how important every possession of the game is,” he said. “If it wasn’t for my parents I wouldn’t be the player that I am today.”
A fan of Kevin Durant, Taylor says he sees a lot of his own game in the Golden State Warrior forward.
“Some of the things that I have taken from him to improve my game was his fade-away jump shot,” Taylor said. “I just watched it a lot of times and I just starter doing it and it has worked.”