Dynamic duo leads loaded National Christian Academy

Jul 16, 2008 (The Dominion Post - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- HOG | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- The National Christian Academy (Md.) AAU basketball team is loaded with talent.

Among their talented players are the dynamic duo of power forward Dante Taylor and shooting guard William Barton. Both are listed as five-star recruits by rivals.com and lead National Christian, which is the top seed of Triple S Harley-Davidson Jam Fest.

Taylor is the No. 23-rated overall recruit for the 2009 recruiting class and the ninth-rated power forward, by the site. Barton is No. 24 on the site's top 100 rankings list for the 2010 recruiting class and is the sixth-rated shooting guard.

Taylor gave his verbal commitment to play for Pitt on Monday. He holds scholarship offers from South Florida, Charlotte, West Virginia, Connecticut and Maryland.

"I always wanted to play in the Big East," Taylor said. "I like the coaching staff. I developed a good relationship with them. I like how the players stayed together off the court."

The 6-foot-9, 230-pound power forward said he plays hard up and down the floor and doesn't quit on any possession. He said once he gets to Pittsburgh, he will be "willing to help the team in any way that he can" and become a leader.

During National Christian's firstround game against Shining Star Sports (Ky.), Taylor showed why he is highly regarded and received multiple scholarship offers from major college basketball programs. He scored 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds, en route to his team's 70-60 win.

Besides scoring and rebounding, Taylor demonstrated his passing ability by dishing out several assists to his teammates.

Defensively, Taylor was a force underneath the basket. On many occasions when the opposition entered the lane, Taylor was there to block shots or at least alter them. He had active hands and grabbed many loose balls, then threw outlet passes to streaking teammates triggering the fastbreak.

Though Shining Star Sports did not play a bad game, and was even tied, 36-36, with National Christian at halftime, Taylor was the difference.

"He played pretty consistently," said Trevor Brown, National Academy's head coach. "He's a pretty versatile big kid. What we taught him was don't be afraid to be a big man. That's why he's pretty good around the basket. We always work on our perimeter stuff with him. He does the guard drills."

Taylor's teammate, Barton, scored 12 points in National Christian's firstround win. Barton, who described himself as very versatile, is a 6-foot-5, 165-pound shooting guard who is a capable rebounder and assist man.

His vision in finding open teammates led to easy scoring opportunities. "I can handle the ball," he said. "I've got good court vision."

"He's a good player. Still got a lot of work to do," Brown said. "He's real talented, real skilled." Brown said Barton just needs to get stronger and keep working hard.

Barton showed his ability to post up, even though he's a guard, on a handful of occasions. In one instance, he sunk a silky-smooth fade-away shot right in a defender's face. "At the two-guard, at 6-foot-5, most shooting guards are not my size, so I just stick to the post and try to use my post skills," Barton said. He said his length and width to finish over defenders.

Barton is a penetrator and has ability to create own his own and also to help set up teammates. He said his team's offense is fun to play in because it often spreads things out and lets players put the ball on the floor.

"I can play the one [point guard], the two [shooting guard] and actually the three [small forward] best," Barton said. "When I get to the next level, I'll project probably as a twoguard."

Georgetown, Maryland and Pitt have offered Barton, according to rivals.com, but Barton said he was taking his recruitment slow and he hasn't reached a decision yet.

Together, with Barton running the floor, attacking the hoop, and assisting -- along with Taylor's versatility, defense and down low presence -- National Christian is a team that should be a tough out at Jam Fest.

"I think we got a pretty good chance of winning this whole thing. We just got to come every game to play," Taylor said.

"I really think we got a good shot at winning it. As long as we play hard, rebound and defend, we could go very far in this tournament," Barton said.

"With the AAU, it's like March Madness -- just advance," Brown said.

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