Deshon Taylor

Deshon Taylor (born March 17, 1996[1][2][3]) is an American professional basketball player for the Canterbury Rams of the New Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL). He played college basketball for the UMKC Kangaroos and Fresno State Bulldogs.

Deshon Taylor
Canterbury Rams
PositionPoint guard
LeagueNZNBL
Personal information
Born (1996-03-17) March 17, 1996
Los Angeles, California
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High schoolJohn W. North
(Riverside, California)
College
NBA draft2019 / Undrafted
Playing career2019–present
Career history
2019–2020Sydney Kings
2021–presentCanterbury Rams
Career highlights and awards
  • 2× First-team All-MWC (2018, 2019)
  • Third-team All-MWC (2017)

High school career

Taylor was born in Los Angeles, California, to Desha Taylor and Terri Bailey.[1] He played at John W. North High School in Riverside, California, and helped lead his team to four consecutive league titles. As a senior, Taylor averaged 24.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.6 steals a game while earning conference MVP, first-team all-state and all-county honors. He was recruited by Hawaii, UC Riverside and Portland State,[4] but committed to play for the UMKC Kangaroos.

College career

UMKC

As a freshman at the University of Missouri–Kansas City, Taylor started 10 of his 33 games. He averaged 7.6 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists a game.[4] At the season's end, he elected to transfer from the program.

Fresno State

Taylor chose to transfer to Fresno State as a walk-on due to the university being close to home and wanting to reunite with past teammates who were on the roster.[4][5] Per National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) regulations, Taylor redshirted during the Bulldogs' 2015–16 season.

In his sophomore season and debut season at Fresno State, Taylor played a sixth man role, starting 15 of his 33 games. He averaged 12.5 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists. Taylor was named to the All-Mountain West Third Team.[4]

During his junior season, Taylor was elevated to a permanent starting position. He scored a career-high 32 points against Nevada on January 31, 2018.[6] He averaged team-highs in points (17.8) and assists (2.6), as well as 3.2 rebounds a game. His 200 made free throws were a single season program record.[7] Taylor was named to the All-Mountain West First Team and All-Defense Team.[4] He initially declared for the 2018 NBA draft, but elected to return to Fresno State for his senior season.[8]

Before the start of his final season at Fresno State, Taylor was named to the 2018–19 Mountain West Preseason All-Conference Team.[7] On March 10, 2019, Taylor set a new career high in points with 37 to help win Fresno State's regular season finale against San Jose State.[9] This game, coupled with a 25-point performance in a win against San Diego State,[10] earned Taylor his first MW Player of the Week award on March 11, 2019.[11][4] In the quarterfinals of the 2019 Mountain West Conference Tournament against Air Force, Taylor led his team to a win with 18 points and set a career high in assists with 10.[12] In his final game for Fresno State, Taylor scored six points in a loss to Utah State in the Mountain West Conference Tournament semifinals.[13] Taylor finished the season averaging 17.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists a game.[4] He ranked in the top 10 in nine of the 13 major individual statistical categories in the Mountain West, which was the most of any player in the conference.[4] Taylor finished his career at Fresno State as the program's seventh all-time leading scorer with 1,482 points.[4]

Professional career

After going undrafted in the 2019 NBA draft, Taylor played for the Philadelphia 76ers during the NBA Summer League.[14] He went on to spend preseason in Australia with the Adelaide 36ers of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) but was released before the start of the regular season as the team decided to resign Jerome Randle.[15][16][17] Taylor then had a probationary period with Latvian team VEF Rīga where he did not appear in a game but participated in team practices.[17][18] On October 31, 2019, he was released by VEF Rīga in order to return to Australia, signing with the Sydney Kings as an injury replacement for Kevin Lisch.[19] Upon Lisch's return, Taylor's stint with the Kings was extended when he was nominated to serve as an injury replacement for Craig Moller.[20] He was removed from the playing roster prior to the start of the playoffs due to the team's return to health but stayed with the Kings while they appeared in the 2020 NBL Finals, where they lost in a shortened finals series to the Perth Wildcats.[17]

On January 12, 2021, Taylor signed with the Canterbury Rams of the New Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL) for the 2021 New Zealand NBL season.[21]

Career statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

College
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2014–15 UMKC 331023.2.408.394.8032.01.3.9.17.6
2016–17 Fresno State 331628.2.443.403.8792.42.11.2.112.5
2017–18 Fresno State 323033.8.439.386.8333.22.61.5.217.8
2018–19 Fresno State 282735.6.446.401.7843.75.01.4.217.9
Career 1268329.9.437.396.8292.82.71.3.113.7

Personal life

Taylor is a cousin of former NBA player Quincy Pondexter.[17] He has a son.[17]

References
  1. "Deshon Taylor". University of Missouri–Kansas City. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  2. "Deshon Taylor". ESPN. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  3. "Deshon Taylor International Stats". Basketball Reference. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  4. "Deshon Taylor - Men's Basketball - Fresno State Athletics". Fresno State Athletics. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  5. Kuwada, Robert. "Taylor and Huggins go out in style on Senior Night as Bulldogs rip San Jose State". The Fresno Bee. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  6. "BC-BKC--T25-Fresno State-Nevada". Associated Press. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  7. "2018-19 MOUNTAIN WEST MEN'S BASKETBALL PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM". Mountain West Conference. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  8. "AFTER TESTING NBA DRAFT WATERS, SIX PLAYERS SET TO RETURN". Mountain West Conference. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  9. "Fresno St blitzes San Jose St setting multiple records". ESPN. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  10. "Williams, Fresno State stun San Diego State 76-74". ESPN. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  11. "MOUNTAIN WEST MEN'S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK". Mountain West Conference. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  12. "Taylor carries Fresno St. past Air Force 76-50 in MW tourney". Associated Press. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  13. "Merrill lifts Utah St. over Fresno St. 85-60 in MWC tourney". Associated Press. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  14. Gligich, Daniel. "Ex-Bulldog Taylor joins 76ers for Summer League". The San Joaquin Valley Sun. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  15. "Californian guard to join 36ers in NBL". SBS News. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  16. "Jerome Randle Returns to the Adelaide 36ers". NBL.com.au. October 2, 2019. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  17. Santamaria, Liam (April 5, 2020). "Turning the Corner: Deshon Taylor's Turbulent First Pro Season". NBL.com.au. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
  18. ""VEF RĪGA" UZ PĀRBAUDES LAIKU PIEVIENOJIES AMERIKĀŅU SASPĒLES VADĪTĀJS DEŠONS TEILORS". vefriga.com (in Latvian). October 25, 2019. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  19. "Sydney Sign Deshon Taylor as Injury Replacement". NBL.com.au. October 31, 2019. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  20. Warren, Adrian (4 December 2019). "Lisch to bolster NBL leading Sydney Kings". ESPN. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  21. "Canterbury Rams Announce The Signing Of Deshon Taylor". Canterbury Rams. January 12, 2021. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
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