Jermaine Taylor (born December 8, 1986) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. Taylor was a starting guard for the University of Central Florida basketball team before being selected with the 32nd overall pick in the

2009 NBA draft The 2009 NBA draft was held on June 25, 2009, at the WaMu Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, the National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eli ...

by the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast D ...

, and soon after traded to the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

High school career

Taylor attended

Tavares High School Tavares High School is a high school located in Tavares, Florida, United States, and is one of seven public high schools operated by Lake County Schools in Lake County, Florida. The school was built in 1926 and originally housed grades 9 and 10. ...

Tavares, Florida Tavares (, ) is a city in the central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Lake County. The population at the 2020 census was 19,003, and in 2019 the population was estimated to be 17,749. It is part of the Orlando&ndas ...

. As a senior at Tavares High School, Taylor averaged 25 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists per game. He finished his senior year second in the Florida Class 3A Player of the Year voting and was named to the Florida Class 3A All-State First Team. Taylor also excelled on the gridiron as a wide receiver for Tavares, gaining 481 yards and 8 touchdowns as a senior. He turned down offers from

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and

South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...

to play basketball instead. In addition to football and basketball, finished second in the Florida Class 2A Track and Field Championships in both the triple jump and high jump. He currently owns his high school's record for the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

, and

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

. After completing his high school career, Taylor signed a national letter of intent with

UCF The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

choosing the Knights over

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, and

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

Collegiate career

Taylor began his career at the University of Central Florida in 2005 during their first season in Conference USA. Taylor played in 15 games averaging 11 minutes and 4.3 points. In only his fourth collegiate game he scored 15 points in a winning effort against in-state opponent Bethune-Cookman. His best game as a freshman came during a home contest when he scored 16 points in 25 minutes of action in a 77-71 home loss. In his sophomore campaign, he emerged as one UCF second leading scorer averaging 12.7 points, good for 16th in

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

. Taylor's prowess as a 3-point shooter was also evident during his second year for the Knights, draining 63 3s, averaging 41.4% behind the arc. Jermaine scored 26 points twice during his second year helping UCF to a 22-9 record and a 2-seed in the Conference USA tournament. Taylor first career start for the Knights came during his junior season, scoring 8 points in UCF's 63-60 win over

University of Nevada The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant ...

in the inaugural game at the new

UCF Arena Addition Financial Arena (formerly known as CFE Arena and UCF Arena) is a sports and entertainment arena located in Orlando, Florida, United States, on the main campus of the University of Central Florida. It was constructed beginning in 2006 ...

. Taylor is a member of the Epsilon Eta chapter of

Iota Phi Theta Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. It was founded on September 19, 1963, at Morgan State University (then Morgan State College) in Baltimore, Maryland, and is currently the 5th largest Black Greek Le ...

fraternity.

College statistics

Professional career

Taylor declared for the

and was drafted 32nd overall by the

. He was later traded to the

for cash considerations. On January 29, 2010, Taylor was assigned to the

Rio Grande Valley Vipers The Rio Grande Valley Vipers are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Edinburg, Texas, and are affiliated with the Houston Rockets. The Vipers play their home games at the Bert Ogden Arena. The Vipers have won f ...

of the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

. On February 4, 2010, he was recalled by the

after scoring 32 and 30 in two games with the Vipers. He was sent back to the Vipers on February 19, 2010, but recalled four days later, and then returned to the Vipers on March 17, 2010. Taylor was recalled by the Rockets once again on March 24, 2010. He then had his first career start in a game versus the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

on March 27, 2010, in which he scored 15 points. On December 15, 2010, Taylor was traded to the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

in exchange for a protected second-round pick. He was waived by the Kings at the end of the season. In September 2012, Taylor signed with the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

. However, he did not make the team's final roster. On November 8, 2012, Taylor signed with the Spanish League team

San Sebastián Gipuzkoa BC Donosti Gipuzkoa Basket 2001 Saskibaloi Kirol Elkartea Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., commonly known as Gipuzkoa Basket and as Acunsa GBC for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, Spain. The ...

. In January 2013, he joined

Hapoel Tel Aviv B.C. Hapoel Tel Aviv Basketball Club ( he, מועדון כדורסל הפועל תל אביב) is an Israeli professional basketball club, based in Tel Aviv, Israel. Historically the second-most successful side in Israeli basketball with five nationa ...

Later that month, he joined

Shanxi Zhongyu The Shanxi Loongs, also known as Shanxi SDIC Raptors Club or Shanxi Fenjiu Shares are a Chinese professional basketball team based in Taiyuan, Shanxi, which plays in the Northern Division of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). The Shanxi Fe ...

of China. On March 15, 2013, Taylor was acquired by the Maine Red Claws. In September 2013, he joined the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

for training camp. He was later waived on October 25. On October 31, 2013, he was reacquired by the Maine Red Claws. On November 29, 2013, he was waived by the Red Claws due to a season-ending knee injury just two games into the season. On October 31, 2014, Taylor was again reacquired by the Maine Red Claws. On January 22, 2015, he was traded to the

Idaho Stampede Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

in exchange for the returning player rights to Dallas Lauderdale. On April 28, 2015, he signed with the

Canterbury Rams The Canterbury Rams are a New Zealand basketball team based in Christchurch. The Rams compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Cowles Stadium. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as The Wheeler Motor Can ...

for the rest of the 2015 New Zealand NBL season. He made his debut for the Rams four days later and recorded 7 points and 3 assists off the bench in a loss to the Super City Rangers. In 11 games for Canterbury, he averaged 15.7 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game. On August 15, 2015, Taylor signed with Dominican club Centro Juvenil Don Bosco. However, his stint lasted just three days after falling to score in his debut game on August 17. On October 31, he was acquired by the

Salt Lake City Stars The Salt Lake City Stars are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Salt Lake City, Utah, and are affiliated with the Utah Jazz. As of the 2022-23 season, the Stars play in the Maverik Center in West Valley City, U ...

of the

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

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References

External links

*
UCF athletic site bioRivals.com profileACB.com profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Jermaine 1986 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in China American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in New Zealand American expatriate basketball people in Spain American expatriate basketball people in the Dominican Republic American men's basketball players Aris B.C. players Basketball players from Florida Big3 players Canterbury Rams players Gipuzkoa Basket players Hapoel Tel Aviv B.C. players Houston Rockets players Idaho Stampede players Liga ACB players Maine Red Claws players People from Tavares, Florida Rio Grande Valley Vipers players Sacramento Kings players Salt Lake City Stars players Shanxi Loongs players Shooting guards Sportspeople from Lake County, Florida UCF Knights men's basketball players Washington Wizards draft picks American men's 3x3 basketball players