By Mike London
Salisbury Post
SALISBURY — Braylon Taylor scored a season-low 10 points on Monday, but he’ll still remember the day as one of the best of his life.
Taylor committed to the Catawba Indians basketball program on Monday as a scholarship player.
He was offered by the Indians not long after he led the Salisbury Hornets to the championship in the Dale’s Sporting Goods Sam Moir Christmas Classic that is played in Catawba’s Goodman Gym.
Taylor is a 6-foot-2 senior shooting guard, but he is also capable of playing some at the point in college.
Taylor puts up fewer 3-pointers than a lot of high school shooting guards, getting most of his points from mid-range, by finishing drives and by getting to the foul line. He draws a lot of contact and shoots a high percentage on free throws.
He is a super-consistent scorer, who has been in double figures for the Hornets every game this season. He was in double figures in 29 of his 30 games as a junior.
He averages 19 points, second in Rowan County. He adds 5.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.7 steals as a solid all-round player.
As a sophomore, Taylor averaged 10.3 points for a team led by Rowan County Player of the Year Juke Harris, Salisbury’s all-time leading scorer and now a standout at Wake Forest.
As a junior, Taylor averaged 17.4 points and scored over 500 points. He scored 27 against the powerful Reidsville squad. That SHS team was led by Myles Smith, the Rowan County Player of the Year and now a freshman on the Belmont Abbey squad.
Taylor has been the senior captain and leader for the Hornets this season.
Salisbury has had great success during the coaching tenure of Albert Perkins. Taylor’s varsity career has coincided with Perkins’ tenure. The Hornets have posted records of 27-4 and 26-4 the past two seasons. They are currently 16-5 and are 9-2 in the South Piedmont Conference. They are battling Robinson and Carson for the South Piedmont Conference championship.
Taylor has been part of a winning tradition, obviously. Salisbury has won three straight Christmas tournaments and won conference championships in his first two seasons.
Through Monday’s game, Taylor has scored 1,231 career points. He is fifth all-time at Salisbury now, behind legends Harris, Bobby Phillips, long-time NBA player Bobby Jackson and Darien Rankin.
Taylor’s father, Bradley Taylor, played on a basketball team at Winston-Salem State that has been enshrined in that school’s Hall of Fame. Taylor’s cousins include Miami Dolphins defensive lineman Zeek Biggers.
