By Anthony Jaskulski

With a solid frame and a hybrid game that brings the styles of strong rebounding and clutch scoring from any part of the floor at any moment, power forward Dante Taylor’s versatile game has made him one of the top recruits in the nation.

From National Christian Academy in the Washington DC area, the Rochester (NY) native has seen much interest in schools such as Cincinnati, South Florida, USC, Louisville and Syracuse. Two schools have seemed to be on him longer than most as Pittsburgh and Maryland have been showing the most interest.

At 6’8, 215, Dante has averaged over 11 rebounds a game for his NCA squad this high school season, and nearly as many points and is now touring the AAU circuit with the NCA AAU squad.

With just one year left of school, Taylor is garnering more spectators and east coast fans, as the question of “where will he go?” lingers around the DC area.

Here is what Dante had to say in a Q&A segment:

Q. What would you say is your best attribute in your game?

A. I would say my quickness and my rebounding definitely.

Q. What area in your game do you think you need improvement on?

A. I think I need to improve putting my back to the basket and being able to beat the defenders better inside.

Q. Is there anything else you try to bring to your game that makes you different from the rest in your position?

A. After practice, I stay in the gym and work on my outside jump shot everyday. I want to be a big man that is a threat from outside and can score from anywhere, and I’m getting better with it, but I’ll always keep working to get it consistent.

Q. How has the recruiting process gone for you up to this point? Is there any school in the lead for you?

A. I don’t really know yet. They are all good schools and make it a tough decision. It’s going to take some time to think about it.

Q. What did you think of getting to showcase your talent at the Pittsburgh Jam Fest (last weekend)?

A. I think it’s a good chance for people to get a better chance to see me, and it helps a lot of other people to with all these coaches in one building watching us play.

Q. Is there any extra pressure on you to perform at your best, knowing scouts and coaches are watching every game of yours?

A. There is some pressure to do a good job. When everybody comes to watch you, you want to play good, but it’s all about just getting out there and doing the best you can.

Q. Do you consider yourself a hype player that can take a game over, or a team player that gets everybody involved first?

A. It’s a team game, and whatever I need to do to help win, I will do it. You can’t be selfish in basketball, but willing to win.

Anthony Jaskulski covers the University of Pittsburgh basketball beat as well as the Pittsburgh high school beat for the Pittsburgh Sports Report. Look for more of Anthony’s contributions in the future at the NBE Basketball Report.

Related Articles:
Jam Fest Q&A: Lamar Patterson
Jam Fest Q&A: Andrew Fitzgerald
Jam Fest Q&A: Dion Waiters
Pittsburgh Jam Fest: Day Three
Pittsburgh Jam Fest: Day Two
Pittsburgh Jam Fest: Day One

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 24th, 2008 at 2:59 pm and is filed under Cincinnati Recruiting, Louisville Recruiting, Pittsburgh Recruiting, South Florida Recruiting, Syracuse Recruiting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.