Diamond Taylor Off The Board 

March 7, 2007 

3:45 A.M. CST

Yet another top prospect in Illinois from the class of 2009 has decided to end his recruitment, as 6'3 guard Diamond Taylor from St. Joseph High School in Westchester, IL has committed to the University of Wisconsin.  Taylor chose the Badgers over Notre Dame and Marquette.

Taylor first burst onto the scene nationally last spring with some outstanding performances on the AAU circuit with the Illinois Wolves.  He becomes the second player from the current Wolves team to offer up an early commitment to a D1 school, as 6'4 guard Joe Bertrand from Sterling High School in Sterling, IL committed to Illinois last October.

Taylor is an outstanding athlete who is a scorer first and foremost.  He is explosive to the basket, thrives in transition and can shoot it from well beyond the arc.  We also believe that Taylor is capable of playing the point, although his natural position is as a 2-guard.  While Taylor's game is not nearly as well-rounded at the present time, in many respects he comes from a similar mold as former Wisconsin Badger All-American and current NBA guard Devin Harris.

Wisconsin had long been considered a frontrunner for Taylor's services and was aided by the fact that the Badger coaching staff enjoyed extremely strong connections with Taylor's family which helped them get this one done.

Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan and assistant coach Howard Moore continue to do an outstanding job of recruiting the state of Illinois.  At the present time the Badgers are also among the frontrunners for 6'8 Jordan Prosser, along with Iowa, Indiana, Texas A&M and Purdue, who is the latest school to make a strong push.  Prosser ranks as one of the top post prospects in Illinois from the class of 2009. 

In addition, Wisconsin is very much in the thick of things for a number of other top underclassmen in Illinois, including 6'8 Mike Shaw from De LaSalle High School in Chicago and 6'4 Wayne Blackshear from Curie High School in Chicago, who are the top two prospects in the state from the class of 2011, and 6'3 class of 2010 prospect Lenzelle Smith from Zion-Benton High School in Zion, IL just to name a few.

Continue to check in with Illinois Prep Bulls-eye for all of the latest as it pertains to high school basketball and recruiting in Illinois.