Former PJC star TJ Taylor signs with University of North Texas

[Harry]

T.J. Taylor, who won third-team junior college All-America honors last season for Paris Junior College, will take his talents this fall to the University of North Texas at Denton.

He announced Tuesday on his Twitter account that he will be play basketball for the Eagles.

“I Terrance Taylor will be taking my talents to the University Of North Texas for my last 3 years of college basketball,” Taylor wrote.

About 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, he added on Facebook: “North Texas Mean Green … Triple Blessed. Thank you Lord.”

The 6-4 Taylor, who played high school basketball in Denison and was the MVP of the 2010 Texas High School Coaches All-Star Game, played with PJC last season after transferring from Oklahoma University.

Even before his first game for Paris, he signed a letter-of-intent to play at Marquette, which is in Milwaukee, Wis. Taylor enrolled at the school this summer, but was granted a release and left the school in July.

Tony Benford, who recruited Taylor for Marquette, is the new head basketball coach at North Texas, and he convinced Taylor to follow him to Denton. Taylor will have three years of eligibility remaining.

Taylor averaged 14.1 points and 2.9 assists a game last season while leading them to the regular-season title of Region 14, a conference of 14 junior colleges in the eastern half of the state.

“There is no question that if T.J. plays up to his potential, he can help them,” said Mike Kunstadt, the publisher of TexasHoops.com, a website that covers high school basketball and recruiting in the state.

Read more: http://www.eparisextra.com/sports/2012/08/01/former-pjc-basketball-star-t-j-taylor-signs-with-university-of-north-texas/

[StealthEagle84]

I'm sure this has already been addressed, but will he be eligible for this upcoming season?

[MeanGreenTexan]

Since Marquette released him amicably, yes.

However, there are still swirling questions about how he is paying for school since we did not have an open scholly for him.

[UNTLifer]

Glad he is coming to North Texas, but not a fan of how he announced it.

[izembower]

Would you have rather him had a live segment on ESPN entitled "The Decision"? ha. Like in the car commercial, "Doesn't matter how ya get here, folks. Just get here!"

I'm more than excited about this acquisition. I was on the TJ Taylor fanwagon when he left OU. He's here now, and will be for 3 years. This addition has given us a great problem; How will the minutes be distributed. I don't care who gets what minutes, as long as we are going in there night-in and night-out and beating SBC schools by double digits. And with our depth and talent, that's not farfetched at all.

I think it really says a lot about our program and how much we've come up. I talked with Dominique Johnson yesterday, and he said we're better this year than VCU. And even though I'm biased, it's hard to disagree.

GMG.

[UNT 90 Grad]

I'm sure this has already been addressed, but will he be eligible for this upcoming season?

Yes. Yes he will.

[Stan R]

Yes. Yes he will.

Wow -can someone explain this to me? I thought players transferring from D1 schools had to sit a year, basically in ALL cases even if granted releases from their departing school.. What is different here??

[UNT90]

Wow -can someone explain this to me? I thought players transferring from D1 schools had to sit a year, basically in ALL cases even if granted releases from their departing school.. What is different here??

It is my understanding that he was simply on campus for 2 weeks and not attending classes.

He simply signed with a school and then was released from the letter of intent. The school can do that, and did.

He wasn't enrolled, didn't attend classes, and therefore doesn't lose a year.

Edited August 2, 2012 by UNT90

[UNTLifer]

Would you have rather him had a live segment on ESPN entitled "The Decision"? ha. Like in the car commercial, "Doesn't matter how ya get here, folks. Just get here!"

I'm more than excited about this acquisition. I was on the TJ Taylor fanwagon when he left OU. He's here now, and will be for 3 years. This addition has given us a great problem; How will the minutes be distributed. I don't care who gets what minutes, as long as we are going in there night-in and night-out and beating SBC schools by double digits. And with our depth and talent, that's not farfetched at all.

I think it really says a lot about our program and how much we've come up. I talked with Dominique Johnson yesterday, and he said we're better this year than VCU. And even though I'm biased, it's hard to disagree.

GMG.

Guess I am "old school," but I guess I miss some of these young men showing a little humility. These comments like, "I will be taking my talents...speaking in third person, etc..." are a whipping and evidence of the "look at me" attitude some of these players have. Glad to have him, but I just prefer a little more humility. Guess I can chalk that up to how I was raised.

[Marty]

http://www.kxii.com/sports/headlines/Denisons-TJ-Taylor-headed-to-UNT-164685846.html?mobile=yes

[aprice]

Guess I am "old school," but I guess I miss some of these young men showing a little humility. These comments like, "I will be taking my talents...speaking in third person, etc..." are a whipping and evidence of the "look at me" attitude some of these players have. Glad to have him, but I just prefer a little more humility. Guess I can chalk that up to how I was raised.

I'm pretty sure he was joking around with that statement. Granted, its not that funny, but nevertheless I doubt he was being serious.

[ADLER]

Two things:

First, lighten up Francis, Terrance Taylor was having fun playing around with an announcement to his buddies on Twitter.

Second, college athletes can enroll in summer classes at any school. It would only count against their eligibility if one enrolled in the fall or spring semester courses at a school. College students can take summer courses at any school without actually transferring to that school. Marquette fans are upset at Buzz for supposedly abusing that rule by releasing many incoming players he really didn't want, but we got lucky because we acquired a player that probably would have been a major contributor at that school. Terrance is eligible to play this season at North Texas and I am thrilled by his decision.

[Mean Green 93-98]

I'm pretty sure he was joking around with that statement. Granted, its not that funny, but nevertheless I doubt he was being serious.

That's how I took it. Glad to have a promising player aboard, and it's okay with me that he has a sense of humor.

[Harry]

[Eastwood Eagle]

Guess I am "old school," but I guess I miss some of these young men showing a little humility. These comments like, "I will be taking my talents...speaking in third person, etc..." are a whipping and evidence of the "look at me" attitude some of these players have. Glad to have him, but I just prefer a little more humility. Guess I can chalk that up to how I was raised.

Pretty sure it was tongue in cheek.

[UNTLifer]

Guess my humor alert needed adjusting. Anyway, thrilled he is with the good guys and love the potential of this team. Come to think of it, Tony should stick around for a couple more years.

[untwillrise]

Hello friends I am glad to say I am taking my talents to the bridge club on chestnut street. The only time it is inappropriate to do something is when no one cares the outcome.