Vernon Taylor (basketball)

Vernon Taylor (born February 15, 1987) is an American former basketball player. Standing at 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m), he played as point guard or shooting guard. Following a college career with Spartanburg Methodist and Troy, Taylor played 12 years of professional basketball in Europe. Countries in which he played include Bulgaria, Finland, Poland, Switzerland, Netherlands and Belgium.

Vernon Taylor
Taylor with Den Bosch in 2019
Personal information
Born (1987-02-15) February 15, 1987
Cross, South Carolina
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight187 lb (85 kg)
Career information
High schoolCross (Cross, South Carolina)
College
NBA draft2011: undrafted
Playing career2011–2023
PositionShooting guard / point guard
Number2, 42
Career history
2011Säynätsalon Riento
2011–2012Sagesse
2012–2013Porvoon Tarmo
2013Kouvot
2013–2015Rilski Sportist
2015–2016Kangoeroes Willebroek
2016–2018Okapi Aalstar
2018Trefl Sopot
2018–2019New Heroes Den Bosch
2019Keravnos
2019–2020Donar
2020–2021Union Neuchâtel
2021–2022SAM Massagno
2022–2023Donar

Early life and college career

Taylor was born in Cross, South Carolina, a community close to Charleston. He had described Cross as a very "family-oriented" and "hard-working" community. His favorite player was Michael Jordan growing up.[1]

He played for the junior college Spartanburg Methodist starting from 2007, and later joined the Troy Trojans. He won the Sun Belt Conference in 2010.[1]

Career

Taylor started his professional career in Finland with Säynätsalon Riento in 2011.

He joined Sageses in Lebanon in 2011, but was released after playing just one game.[1]

In 2015, Taylor signed with Kangoeroes Willebroek of the Belgian Pro Basketball League (PBL).[2] He was named the MVP of Round 18 after having an index rating of 28 in a win against Liège Basket.[3]

He signed for Okapi Aalstar in Belgium in 2016. Okapi re-signed him for the 2017–18 season.[4]

Taylor started the 2018–19 season with Trefl Sopot in the Polish Basketball League (PLK).[5] On 8 January 2019, he agreed with Sopot to leave the club.[6] Late that month, Taylor signed with New Heroes Den Bosch which was looking for a replacement for injured Devon Van Oostrum.[7]

In July 2019, he signed with Cypriotic team Keravnos.[8]

On October 15, 2019, Taylor signed with Donar of the Dutch Basketball League (DBL) for the remainder of the 2019–20 season.[9] The 2019–20 season was cancelled prematurely in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Taylor returned to the United States.

On July 6, 2020, Taylor signed in Switzerland with Union Neuchâtel of the Swiss Basketball League (SBL).[10]

In August 2021, Taylor transferred to SAM Basket Massagno.[11]

On August 8, 2022, Taylor returned to Donar by signing a one-year contract.[12] He announced his retirement in October 2023.

Personal

In 2023, Taylor organised the Love is Love PRO AM basketball tournament in Charleston. He wore number 42 in his final season to honour his best friend, Timothy Lee Owens, who passed away in 2022.[1]

References
  1. "Interview: Vernon Taylor". Donar (in Dutch). Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  2. "Vernon Taylor, la bonne pioche des Kangoeroes de Willebroek - InforBasket".
  3. "SCOOORE! Nieuws - Vernon Taylor van Kangoeroes Basket Willebroek is deze week MVP !". www.scooore.be. Archived from the original on April 12, 2016.
  4. "Crelan Okapi Aalstar re-signs Vernon Taylor".
  5. "Nowy rzucający w Treflu". Plk.pl. July 12, 2018. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  6. "Vernon Taylor odchodzi z Trefla Sopot". Treflsopot.pl. January 8, 2019. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  7. "New Heroes vindt in Vernon Taylor de vervanger voor Devon van Oostrum". Brabants Dagblad. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  8. "OPAP Basket League: Keravnos agreed financial terms with Vernon Taylor!". All4basketball.com. July 11, 2019.
  9. "Donar voegt Vernon Taylor toe aan de selectie". Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  10. "Union Neuchâtel engage l'Américain Vernon Taylor" (in French). ArcInfo. July 6, 2020. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  11. SAM, Info (August 16, 2021). "Vernon Taylor alla Spinelli Massagno". sambasketmassagno (in Italian). Retrieved November 2, 2021.
  12. Sluis, Jurryt van der. "Team compleet met komst Vernon Taylor". Donar (in Dutch). Retrieved August 8, 2022.
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