Jermaine Taylor (basketball)

Jermaine Taylor (born December 8, 1986 in Tavares, Florida) is an American professional basketball player. Taylor was a starting guard for the University of Central Florida basketball team. He was drafted in the second round, 32nd overall, of the 2009 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards and soon after traded to the Houston Rockets.^[1]

High school career

Jermaine Taylor attended Tavares High School in Tavares, Florida. As a senior at Tavares High School, Taylor averaged 25 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists per game. He finished his senior year second in the Florida Class 3A Player of the Year voting and was named to the Florida Class 3A All-State First Team.

Taylor also excelled on the gridiron as a wide receiver for Tavares, gaining 481 yards and 8 touchdowns as a senior. He turned down offers from Florida and South Florida to play basketball instead.

In addition to football and basketball, finished second in the Florida Class 2A Track and Field Championships in both the triple jump and high jump. He currently owns his high school's record for the long jump, high jump, and triple jump.

After completing his high school career, Taylor signed a national letter of intent with UCF choosing the Knights over Pittsburgh, Alabama, and Penn State

Collegiate career

Jermaine Taylor began his career at the University of Central Florida in 2005 during their first season in Conference USA. Taylor played in 15 games averaging 11 minutes and 4.3 points. In only his fourth collegiate game he scored 15 points in a winning effort against in-state opponent Bethune-Cookman. His best game as a freshman came during a home contest when he scored 16 points in 25 minutes of action in a 77-71 home loss.

In his sophomore campaign, he emerged as one UCF second leading scorer averaging 12.7 points, good for 16th in Conference USA. Taylor's prowess as a 3-point shooter was also evident during his second year for the Knights, draining 63 3's, averaging 41.4% behind the arc. Jermaine scored 26 points twice during his second year helping UCF to a 22-9 record and a 2-seed in the Conference USA tournament.

Taylor first career start for the Knights came during his junior season, scoring 8 points in UCF's 63-60 win over University of Nevada in the inaugural game at the new UCF Arena.

Jermaine Taylor is a member of the Epsilon Eta Chapter of Iota Phi Theta

College statistics

NBA career

He declared for the 2009 NBA Draft and was drafted 32nd overall by the Washington Wizards. He was later traded to the Houston Rockets for cash considerations.

On January 29, 2010, Taylor was assigned to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA Development League.^[2]

On February 4, 2010 he was recalled by the Houston Rockets after scoring 32 and 30 in two games with the Vipers. He was sent back to the Vipers on February 19, 2010,^[3] but recalled four days later,^[4] and then returned to the Vipers on March 17, 2010.^[5] Taylor was recalled by the Rockets once again on March 24, 2010.^[6] Jermaine Taylor then had his first career start in a game versus the Los Angeles Lakers on March 27, 2010 in which Taylor scored a career-high 15 points.^[7]

External links

• UCF athletic site bio
• Rivals.com listing

References

1. ^ "Chad Ford's 2009 Draft Board, Round 2". ESPN.com. http://insider.espn.go.com/nbadraft/draft/tracker/round?draftyear=2009&round=2&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnbadraft%2fdraft%2ftracker%2fround%3fdraftyear%3d2009%26round%3d2. Retrieved 2009-06-25.
2. ^ Conroy promoted from D-League
3. ^ Rockets Assign Taylor To D-League
4. ^ [http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=5455 Rockets recall Jermaine Taylor from D-League]
5. ^ Rockets assign Taylor to Vipers, Anderson returns
6. ^ Rockets Recall Taylor and Re-Sign Harris
7. ^ [1]

Categories: African American basketball players | Basketball players from Florida | People from Lake County, Florida | Shooting guards | Houston Rockets players | UCF Knights men's basketball players | Living people | Washington Wizards draft picks | 1986 births