AROUND TOWN
MONDAY, AUGUST 18, 2008
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TAYLOR (CONTINUED FROM 44)
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Freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor was part of the undefeated No.1 high school team in the nation last year at St.Anthony in New Jersey. He called the University's winning tradition "incredible."
in Florida. And even that team finished either 10-9 or 10-8, Taylor said.
"I've never played on a losing team in my life," Taylor said. "I just can't do it."
It should seem only natural then that Taylor's winding recruiting path led him to Kansas. Originally committed to Marquette University, Taylor opted out in April when the coach there left for another job. Taylor then became enamored with the Jayhawks — a team that hasn't finished with a losing record in 25 years. That's seven years before Taylor was even born.
"This is a winning tradition," Taylor said of the University. "I think it is incredible."
Last year, Taylor's St. Anthony team finished as state champions in New Jersey at 32-0. The Friars also ended their season as the No. 1-ranked high school basketball team in the nation in both the USA Today and ESPN polls.
The University, meanwhile, didn't perform too shabbily, either, going 37-3 and winning its first national championship in 20 years.
That means only Taylor can lay claim to going from the high school national champion to the college national champion.
It sounds like a match made in crimson and blue heaven. But will the lanky, 6-foot-3 guard's play mesh as seamlessly on the court at the University as his winning background does?
"I know when he gets to college he is going to play because he is hungry, he's team oriented and he has a lot of intangibles," said Bob
Hurley, Taylor's high school coach at St. Anthony. "I don't know if all these
other players have those things that he possesses. I think he is going to
find his way."
Taylor brings what he has dubbed an "east coast swagger" to Kansas, displaying a quiet confidence on the court, precision passing skills and nasty blow-by moves on defenders to get to the rim — all qualities that helped St. Anthony to an 86-4 record during Taylor's three seasons there.
"He's unique," Hurley said of Taylor, who averaged 10 points and five assists per game in high school last season. "He's one of those few guys that can be on both ends of an alley-oop dunk."
According to KU assistant coach Kurtis Townsend, Taylor has also demonstrated two important intangibles since arriving at the University for summer classes last month: a strong work ethic and a willingness to learn.
Townsend, who isn't allowed to watch Taylor or the six other KU newcomers until classes begin in the fall, said he had heard only positive reviews about Taylor. He said Taylor had been spending hours in the weight room to bulk up his thin, 170-pound frame.
"He's a guy getting everyone together trying to play pick up," Townsend said. "He seems like a natural leader and a guy who wants to get better everyday and will do whatever it takes."
Fairly or unfairly, the comparisons of Taylor's game have already begun to match up against two of the University's recently departed guards from that national championship team: Russell Robinson and Mario Chalmers. Taylor, who should see plenty of their minutes next sea-
Freshman forward Quintrell Thomas led a rush of East Coasters who flocked to play basketball at Kansas. Thomas, from Elizabeth, N.J., has been likened to former Jayhawk Darnell Jackson.
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THOMAS (CONTINUED FROM 44)
earlier this summer. Thomas was physical and an active rebounder, although while standing next to former Jayhawk Julian Wright, Thomas showed he might be closer to 6-foot-6 than the 6-foot-8 he has often been listed at.
But it's Quintrell Thomas, a 6-foot-8 incoming freshman forward, who can be blamed with starting the trend.
Thomas, a native of Elizabeth, N.J., committed to play at Kansas last October. The Morrisises and Taylor followed, and now Kansas is stocked with East Coast talent, a commodity that was once quite scarce in Lawrence.
hail from Philadelphia — played ball at Apex Academy in Pennsauken, N.J.
With Darnell Jackson, Sasha Kaun graduated and Darrell Arthur's early entry into the NBA draft, sophomore Cole Aldrich is Kansas' only returning front court player.
As an undersized power forward, a few recruiting experts have likened Thomas' game to that of former Jayhawk Darnell Jackson. Thomas showed glimpses of that game at two alumni scrimmages
The Jayhawks may need Thomas to play an important role early on in his career. And if Thomas and mates from New Jersey are successful, fans may hope Self journeys out to the Jersey shore more often.
son and is two inches taller than both, brings an east coast toughness to Kansas just as Robinson did. And Taylor will wear Chalmers' old digits next season — No.15.
— Edited by Matt Hirschfeld
"He might have the leadership qualities of Russell," said Townsend, not wanting to bunch the three guards together. "I don't know if he quite shoots it as good as Mario, but he knows how to score. I think he's got some qualities the other guys have, but I think he's going to be his own player."
Taylor said the toughest part of moving to the Midwest was leaving his family members behind. Maintaining a winning tradition at the University just as the previous guards did should make him feel right at home.
Edited by Rustin Dodd
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