Mott’s John Taylor commits to Fresno Pacific
June 22, 2012 in Cover Story, Division II, JUCO
Fresno Pacific University, a Division II college in California, has announced that Mott Community College standout John Taylor, who led Mott to the national title and won the NJCAA National Player of the Year award this season, has committed. From the team’s news release:
The Fresno Pacific men’s basketball program took a major step forward in keeping the program nationally relevant as it heads into NCAA Division II and the Pacific West Conference this fall, as head coach Chris Wright announced the signings of National Junior College Player of the Year John Taylor and NCAA Division I transfer Malcolm Griffin.
Taylor, a 6’1” guard, joins the Sunbirds from Mott Community College in Michigan where he was the National Division II Junior College Player of the Year while averaging 24.9 points per game and leading his team to a 35-1 record and a JUCO national title.
Griffin, a 6’4” guard/forward, comes to FPU from NCAA Division I Toledo, where he led the team in scoring, assists and steals as a sophomore before transferring following a coaching change.
FPU beat out virtually every top NCAA Division II and NAIA program in the country to land Taylor, who scored 40 or more points three times this season and was the #6-ranked overall prospect in the talent-rich state of Illinois coming out of high school.“John is a special talent that has won big everywhere he has been,” said Wright. “He has unbelievable tools that make him a legitimate NBA prospect. He possesses unlimited shooting range, great quickness and ball handling ability, and can get to the rim and finish with ease. As good of a player as he is, I think the thing that makes him special is desire to win. He has all of the intangibles and ability to play at the highest of levels.”
Taylor had interest from MAC schools and other Mid-Major Division I programs, and he’s certainly good enough to play at that level. At the Division II level, I have no doubt the dynamic scoring knack he showed off at Mott will translate. I expect he’ll put up big numbers next season.
