OFFICIAL TAYLOR ANNOUNCEMENT

[Deleted]

gobonnies.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/082607aaa.html


Men's Basketball adds Delonte Taylor


Aug. 26, 2007


ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - The St. Bonaventure men's basketball team continues to bulk up its roster as head coach Mark Schmidt announced that Delonte Taylor has signed a grant-in aid to attend St. Bonaventure this fall.

Taylor will be the eighth new face on the Bona roster this upcoming season and the fifth freshman. Transfers Chris Matthews and Maurice Thomas will have to sit out the 2007-08 season per NCAA transfer rules.

"Delonte is a physical wing player who can really shoot the ball," said Schmidt. "His father played in the NBA so he has great genes and good feel for the game. His athleticism and maturity will help him make an immediate impact."

A native of Washington, D.C., Taylor spent this past season at Lutheran Christian Academy. There, he averaged 17 points per game and four boards per contest. This past summer, Taylor was tabbed the 64th-ranked fifth-year player in the country by Hoop Scoop in its final 2007 rankings.

Taylor spent the final two years of his high school career at H.D. Woodson in Washington, D.C. As a senior, he led the DCIAA in scoring at 27 points per game en route to being named to the league's first team and the All-Metro fourth team.

[Chuck]

About this time last year, Delonte gave a verbal to Bonas as reported by CAA insiders.

DELONTE TAYLOR (SF) Committed to St. Bonaventure
Tuesday, 29 August 2006
Image
Rating:
Name: Delonte Taylor
Position: SF
Height: 6-5
Weight:
Year: 2007
Class: Prep Senior
School: Lutheran Christian Academy (PA)

Analysis:
Delonte is a big, athletic guard. He runs the floor well and finishes by using his great leaping ability. He is capable of driving to the basket or shooting from behind the arc. He is also a good shot blocker for a player of his size.


Interest:
Team Offer Commitment
St. Bonaventure Yes Verbal

www.caainsider.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=623&Itemid=336

[Copenhagen]

another analysis of his game:


Sonny Hill League Future Stars Tournament Player Evaluations (S to Z)

Friday, 25 August 2006

By Brian Crownover
[e-mail]


Delonte Taylor – Sam Rines (Lutheran Christian Academy, PA 2007 6-5)
Delonte first caught my eye at the last session of Eastern Invitational that I attended. He is a big, athletic forward who can do a lot of different things. He did a great job just of running the floor and using his excellent leaping ability to score in transition. Delonte also knocked down a number of threes, however he did take too many of them and didn’t attack the basket enough in the half court offense. Delonte did do a good job on the boards and had a monster game blocking shots (close to double digits), he wasn’t nearly as effective when I caught him on Saturday, his minutes were limited due to foul trouble though.

[hamrucker]

WE'RE SO BACK!

[fjs64]

Chuck.........a secret kept by someone on this board??? I am a regular reader on this board and I don't remember any rumor about him and a verbal......I guess I missed it (I do understand that the coaching staff cannot discuss until a signed LOI).

[Chuck]

FJS, just found this verbal while doing a goggle search on Delonte.

[fjs64]

Let's hope he's as good as the press clippings. I wonder if Anthony was trying to sign him for Dayton.

Thanks Chuck

[jmct]

fjs64 said:

Let's hope he's as good as the press clippings. I wonder if Anthony was trying to sign him for Dayton.

Thanks Chuck

Let;'s also hope that he is OK'd by the NCAA Clearinghouse. You may recall that Lutheran Christian Academy was the worst of the diploma mills featured in last year's New York Times expose:

"Lutheran Christian Academy in Philadelphia, where four former students told The New York Times that they were not required to attend class and that their only teacher was their coach. Two days after The Times’ report, the NCAA proposed emergency legislation to help deal with the problem. "
www.nytimes.com/2006/02/25/sports/ncaabasketball/25preps.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5088&en=b4408741cba1781f&ex=1298523600&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Then from March 2007: "Kevin Lennon, the N.C.A.A. vice president for membership services, said that Lutheran Christian Academy in Philadelphia and Prince Avenue Prep in Pickens, S.C., which use curriculum from Accelerated Christian Education, did not have a high enough standard within that curriculum. Neither school was given “model” or “quality” status by the organization, which is why the N.C.A.A. said it would no longer be accepting transcripts from them."

At that point, the school was going to try to gain "quality status", but I don't know how that turned out. In any event, I'm sure the NCAA will be looking very closely at his transcript if they haven't already.

[B02]

That is about the 10th time that school has been mentioned on this board I think we get that they had problems according to the Washington Post/ NY Times. Do you really think Bonaventure gives a player a scholarship who is from HIGH SCHOOL who was not cleared. You can't be given a scholarship out of high school if you do not have clearance from the NCAA clearing house.

[sneakers]

The press release could be read that Taylor spent his senior year at H.D. Woodson in Washington, D.C. and graduated from that school. He then spent time at Lutheran as a post-grad prep student (probably to get his test scores up). It is hard to tell from the wording of the release if this is the case or not, but it doesn't really matter. B02 is correct, that we needn't worry about it anyway if he gets clearance from the clearing house.

[sbu83]

www.nytimes.com/2007/03/30/sports/ncaabasketball/30georgetown.html?ei=5124&en=36863f2c127ad806&ex=1332993600&p artner=digg&exprod=digg&pagewanted=all

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/02/AR2006060201579.html

[sbu83]

Schmidt quote:
"His father played in the NBA so he has great genes and good feel for the game. "

Actually:
Delonte Taylor (the father) was drafted in the 7th Round of the 1982 draft by the San Antonio Spurs. He did not make the team and never played a minute in the NBA.

[B02]

Once again sbu83, those articles mean nothing as far as Taylor's admittance into St. Bonaventure. He would NOT be allowed to play D-1 if he was not cleared by the clearing house. Jamil Terrell was something totally different because that is JUCO

[LumsdnA10Academc98]

sbu83 said:

Schmidt quote:
"His father played in the NBA so he has great genes and good feel for the game. "

Actually:
Delonte Taylor (the father) was drafted in the 7th Round of the 1982 draft by the San Antonio Spurs. He did not make the team and never played a minute in the NBA.

I was wondering; thanks for clarifying.

Also, for a program that has as much rotten luck with recruits as we've had - from Andre Smith and Charles Burch to Leandro Palladino, among others - it looks like we're finally in the right place at the right time. Here's a big-time player who tried for three years to qualify, and he ends up here. Sure, one could attest that if Mr. Taylor's academic difficulties progress, he might be a waste of a scholarship. For now, though, it looks like we got lucky late in the game on an impact player.

[jmct]

b02 said:

You can't be given a scholarship out of high school if you do not have clearance from the NCAA clearing house.

It's correct that ultimately you can't be in school with an athletic scholarship if you haven't gained clearance. However, you can be offered a scholarship and accept it prior to final clearance. (You can also sign a letter of intent, although that's not an issue here.) There have been cases where athletes enrolled while still waiting for the final Ok from the clearinghouse - which can only come after the student's final transcript is received by them and reviewed - only to have the clearinghouse determine that the athlete did not have enough qualifying credits to be eligible.

Note that I am not suggesting that he doesn't have clearance - just commenting on the process.