I first saw Justin Taylor play at the 2018 CP3 Rising Stars camp and have followed his progress since then. After having a solid year on the travel circuit in 2019, Taylor just finished up his sophomore season at St-Anne’s Belfield in Virginia, where he continued to show steady improvement. Taylor has great positional size for an SG at 6’5″ and is equipped with a knock-down outside shot. He has continued adding to his game off the dribble and has bulked up significantly since the summer also. Taylor gained some national attention this winter, resulting in an invite to April’s USA Minicamp that was recently cancelled. He is now preparing for this upcoming travel season, where he will be making the move to the EYBL to play with Team Takeover’s 16U group. Taylor hasn’t received the HM offers that you may expect from a prospect of his caliber, but he is taking a mature approach to his recruitment and development. Below we talk about where he is with everything currently.
Justin Taylor Sophomore Highlights: https://www.hudl.com/video/3/10469697/5e60051cd45ff016507f2edc
You built a reputation last year as a great shooter, but I thought you showed strides in other areas at the end of the summer in California and it looks like you carried that into the winter. What was your focus on going into the high school school season and where do you think you had the most growth/improvement?
“Yeah my trainer, Damin, and I definitely made it a focus over the summer and in the preseason to really work on my scoring and play-making from all 3 levels. I think I was able to prove especially this high school season my versatility and that I have the ability to make plays with the ball in my hands, whether that be using a ball screen or getting into the mid post against smaller guards.”
You were on a really good Loaded VA Adidas team last year, but now you’ll be going over to the EYBL with Team Takeover. Talk about why you decided to make the switch and how you think you’ll benefit from playing with Takeover this summer.
“I did, after a lot of thought, decide to switch over to Takeover and play on the EYBL. Playing for Loaded and with all the guys on the team was a lot of fun and a great experience for me and my development. I think playing for Takeover will allow me to play against the best competition out there in-front of the best exposure there is in aau. I’ve talked to Coach Doug, who will be my coach for Takeover, a lot and we are both very excited to get the season started and he has already helped me tremendously as far as getting my name out there even more and my development as a player.”
Even though you’re young, you’re already a high-level prospect, but you haven’t gotten the HM offers yet that you probably deserve. What do you think you need to do and prove to coaches this summer to get those type of offers?
“Yea while it obviously is frustrating to not receive any high major offers yet, I realize that I still have a lot of time to work for and earn those higher offers. I have some great schools that have offered me so far that I’m very grateful for. For this summer, I’m excited to finally get out there and compete and just play my game.”
You still have half of your high school career left to play. Is there anything specific that you want to achieve next year? Do you have any long-term goals for yourself before you’re done with high school?
“I think these next two years will be huge as far as my development goes in the future. Two of my big goals while I’m still in high school are to continue to climb up the rankings and be a McDonalds All-American, and win a State Championship at STAB. My long-term goals consist of having a successful college career and eventually play in the NBA.”
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