June 25, 2001

Matt Brann
GoldandBlack.com

Purdue has already received verbal commitments from in-state standouts Ashley Mays and Carol Duncan. Now they have their eyes set on Connersville?s Missy Taylor.

The 6-foot-2 forward/guard is rated the No. 12 player in the nation by All-Star Girls Report. Taylor said Wednesday evening following the junior-senior all-star game that the Boilermakers are among her top college choices.

Other schools in the mix include Stanford, Xavier, Vanderbilt, Western Kentucky, Penn State, Iowa and Iowa State.

"I just sent off my application to Stanford because you have to apply there before you can be offered a scholarship," Taylor told Gold & Black Illustrated. "I want to become a pediatrician. If I went to Stanford it would be great to have that on my application when I go to get a job. It is hands down a great school.

"Stanford and Purdue are definitely going to be two of my official visits. I?m also taking some unofficial visits this summer, including one to Iowa State at the end of July."

July will be a busy period for Taylor. In addition to participating in various summer tournaments with her traveling team, she?ll participate in the NIKE All-America Camp July 15-18 in Indianapolis. The month could also determine just how far away from home Taylor wants to go to school.

"Distance is one of the big factors right now," Taylor said. "But I?m not real sure, because I haven?t been home at all this summer. The month of July I?ll be home six days. It depends on if I can handle that. I?m pretty close with my family, but whatever the best school for me is, that?s where I?ll go. If I want to stay close to home it would probably be Western Kentucky, Xavier or Purdue."

Taylor is such a sought-after recruit because she possesses the height of a post player with the outside touch of a shooting guard. Right now she is too thin to bang in the post, but battling frontcourt players such as Shyra Ely and Jacqueline Batteast in the all-star series was beneficial. Taylor averaged 5.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in the two games.

"It was a lot of fun playing the senior all-stars," said Taylor, who was 4-of-6 from the field in the two all-star games. "There are three All-Americans (Batteast, Ely and Ashley Allen) on that team. It was just a great honor to be on the junior all-stars and have the opportunity to play against them.

"In college I?ll probably play small forward. I?m a little smaller compared to the post players. They all have some meat on their bones compared to me. Their skill level is good and it shows what I have to work on for next year so I can be as good as they are."

As a junior, Taylor averaged 21.8 points and 9.8 rebounds while helping the Spartans to a 19-5 record. She played a number of different positions for Connersville, but will spend much of her summer playing shooting guard.

"In high school it really varied what position I played," she said. "For my AAU team I?m strictly a 2. For these all-star games I had to play in the post. It doesn?t really matter to me where I play."

For a complete list of Purdue?s recruiting targets, Click here.