Basketball recruiting: Imhotep’s Elijah Taylor commits to Notre Dame
His final schools were Virginia Commonwealth, Seton Hall, Florida, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh.
Imhotep basketball star Elijah Taylor announced his Division I college commitment on Thursday, and the 6-foot-8 forward said he has agreed to attend Notre Dame. He took an official visit to the school last weekend.
Taylor’s final choice came from among Virginia Commonwealth, Seton Hall, Florida, Notre Dame, and Pittsburgh.
Taylor is the prominent leader on an Imhotep team that is putting together a new rotation after losing five seniors, four of whom went on to join Division I teams. He scored 16 points off the bench to help the Panthers win their third straight PIAA Class 4A state championship in March.
In June, at Philly Live, a basketball showcase at Thomas Jefferson University at which schools competed in front of college coaches, Taylor impressed coaches with his growth both as a player and leader.
He also had offers from Virginia Tech, Georgia, Penn State, and Dayton.
“Offensively, he’s gotten way more aggressive,” Imhotep coach Andre Noble said in June. “He’s getting better. Just being a leader, he was always a good leader, but he’s trying to talk to younger kids more and more. I see growth in him. I’m proud of where he is.
“We’re challenging him to be the best player in the area, because we need him to be that in order for us to be what we expect to be.”
Taylor has developed his offensive game to be more self-sufficient now that the ball will be in his hands more often. He said in June that he’s working on creating shots for himself. He’s also working on guarding on the perimeter and becoming more explosive.
At the Philly Live event, he lived at the free-throw line and showed a promising shooting form, hitting a turnaround jump shot in the first half. Guarding sufficiently on the perimeter and creating his own shot would allow Taylor to play both forward spots in college.