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February 6, 2009

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TJ Taylor is a 5-foot-8, 150-pound star sophomore point guard at Oakland High. He has already verbaled to Coach Kerry Keating and the Santa Clara men's basketball program even with two more years remaining in high school. To complete the trifecta, Taylor sports a 4.0 grade point average in a courseload chock full of advanced placement classes.

Heck, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums better watch out once Taylor turns 18.

Let's begin with Taylor himself, an all-Oakland Athletic League selection last season as a freshman.

He self-describes his best court skills as "leading, and I'm working to get better at it. We have a young team so I'm always talking in order to bring the guys together."

But as is typical with this young man, all credit is extended elsewhere.

A query about the most influential person in his life is answered with "my brother because he taught me everything I know." T.J. is referencing P.J. Taylor, now a freshman at Lewis and Clark College in Portland and a member of the men's basketball team there.

As for P.J.'s prowess in the classroom, it's 'because' of T.J. "My brother was getting 4.0s so I stepped up." The Taylor family emphasizes academics and both sons have been topping the academic charts since the sixth grade.

Taylor's selection of Santa Clara as his college destination didn't necessarily raise eyebrows but the timing of his decision did. As for why pledging to the Broncos, Taylor offered, "I met the coaches and they are good people and basketball-wise I know I will have a chance to play."

His cousin and former teammate at Oakland High, Damian Lillard, played a role in Taylor's thinking. Lillard chose to sign with Weber State last year despite offers from Boise State, Colorado State and St. Mary's. He has started 13 of the first 18 games this season and is playing close to 30 minutes a contest while averaging 12.8 points per game in conference play for the Wildcats. For both Lillard and Taylor, it was foremost a matter of finding the right fit, with television appearances and all the other 'glamour factors' not part of the equation.

It's early but Taylor has interest in engineering as a major as several relatives work in that field.

His father, Phil Taylor, is a coach with the Oakland Rebels Youth Basketball Club. He's just seen one son off to college and now his other son, though not departing immediately, has secured his college destination.

"T.J. felt the pain of his older brother departing when P.J. headed off to school in August," the elder Taylor said. "But with our family, it's a matter of making the best decision academically. I'm very proud of P.J. being a great role model for his brother."

About his younger son, who just turned 15 because he skipped the third grade, committing early to a school and a coach, Taylor offered, "We hit it off with the coaching staff and it was a situation of meeting people you know you are comfortable with."

Orlando Watkins is the head coach of the boys basketball team at Oakland High and effusively praises his sophomore.

"I've known T.J. since he was in the sixth grade," Watkins said, "and he is way more mature than his years. I call him an older soul as he has mental strength beyond his age and he carries himself as someone older than he is."

In fact, Watkins finds himself sometimes forgetting his protege's actual age. "I'll say I want to accomplish this or that or that I have a certain expectation and then it hits me that I need to remember how young T.J. and some of the other players actually are. It's funny because I get caught up comparing them to older guys, juniors and seniors."

Continuing on, Watkins said, "Last year, T.J. was the only freshman to make all league and he came off the bench because we had eight seniors on the team."

Watkins added, "He has very few flaws in his game. He can shoot, handle pressure and he's quick with the ball. When all is said and done Santa Clara will have gotten a star but it's also important that people know he's a good person first."

Decades ago, there was a movie titled "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn." There's no film crew around this time but a fine young man and basketballer is rising in Oakland.