Highland High School guard verbally commits to play basketball at junior college
Although Kirsten Taylor is unsure if she will play her senior year of basketball at Highland High School, she does know where she will continue her academic and basketball career when the 2021-22 school year commences.
Taylor, a senior and one of the key cogs in the Lady Bulldogs run to the IHSA Class 3A super-sectional last season, will continue her career at Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield.
She undoubtedly is relieved to have the process completed.
“Honestly, it’s just like a weight lifted off my shoulders,” Taylor said. “I feel so relieved and the coaches (there) were so nice about everything and helpful.”
Given the challenging landscape for recruiting due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Taylor was thankful to have options to play at the junior college level as Illinois Community College, Parkland Community College, Lakeland Community College, and Blackhawk Community College all showed interest.
However, a campus visit to Lincoln Land the weekend of Jan. 8 helped seal the deal.
“They provide a good academic atmosphere as well as athletics and because I have to do something after basketball and basketball is not forever, I think they are going to prepare me for the future after basketball,” Taylor said.
Taylor also noted how comfortable Lincoln Land coach Chad Jones and the players made her feel on the visit.
“The coaches were really supportive and they let me meet the girls and everything and let me get to know them a little bit and they showed me around campus and we just sat down and talked about stuff,” Taylor said. “They were really open in getting to know me and everything.”
Highland coach expects Taylor to succeed
Lady Bulldogs coach Clint Hamilton believes Lincoln Land and Taylor will mesh well together.
“She’s an athletic kid and obviously a great scorer that goes about 5-foot-8, 5-foot-9 ... I think her thing is she can score and she can get in the lane and in college if you can score you can play,” Hamilton said.
“Especially with her going to a two-year school, you get all of your core classes taken care of and play for two years and if you love it, you can go on and play somewhere else and if not, you’ve got your first two years (of school) paid for and you can do whatever you want after that.”
Hamilton said he felt without the pandemic Taylor could have had more options, but he believes Lincoln Land has secured a great addition.
Role with the Loggers
Taylor, who averaged 9.4 points per game as a junior at Highland, said the Loggers coaches see her being in a similar role as at Highland in the two guard or point guard slot.
“They run a lot of similar things that we do at Highland, and they’re very guard-oriented, so I will do a lot of shooting, like I do at Highland, just it (the play) will be a little more physical,” Taylor said. “I hope to be able to come in and make an impact next year. That’s the plan.”
Taylor expects to sign her letter of intent within the next month.