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Kansas basketball received its seventh commitment of the 2008 recruiting class when St. Anthony (N.J.) point guard Tyshawn Taylor gave an oral commitment to the Jayhawks on Tuesday morning, according to St. Anthony coach Bob Hurley.
Taylor, rated a four-star prospect and the No. 77 overall player by Rivals.com, originally signed a letter of intent with Marquette in the fall. But when Marquette coach Tom Crean left for Indiana, the school released Taylor from his letter. Kansas had gotten in the game late with Taylor in the fall, but a door opened for the Jayhawks yet again.
Taylor, like Russell Robinson four years before him, chose KU over Georgia Tech in the end.
“He was going to schedule a visit to Kansas (in the fall) and didn’t do it,” Hurley said. “With this, it was almost like fate.”
In Taylor, Hurley says, the Jayhawks are getting a player who knows how to win. He was the primary ball-handler for St. Anthony, which went 32-0 and brought home the mythical high school national championship. Taylor averaged 12 points, five rebounds and five assists per game.
“He’s long, 6-foot-3, a very very good player going to the basket,” Hurley said. “He’s a good finisher, a very good pick and roll player, which Kansas likes.”
With Taylor’s commitment, the Jayhawks are now one over their limit of 12 scholarships. But if either Darrell Arthur or Mario Chalmers decides to stay in the NBA Draft, KU will be even.
Taylor, from Jersey City, N.J., will be the fourth player in next year’s five-man freshman class with New Jersey connections – power forward Quintrell Thomas is from Elizabeth, N.J., and twins Marcus and Markieff Morris attend Apex Academies in Pennsauken, N.J.
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