Grand Blanc boys basketball's RJ Taylor sets sites on a third-straight state title appearance after surpassing school scoring record

RJ Taylor was only a middle schooler, but Grand Blanc boys basketball head coach Tory Jackson saw the flashes.

This wasn’t a middle schooler dominating kids his age or even kids slightly older. Taylor, in an open gym, was going straight at Jackson — a former Saginaw Buena Vista star turned Notre Dame point guard — and Jackson’s training buddy for the day, Eric Devendorf, who too starred in the Michigan high school scene at Bay City before embarking on his own collegiate journey at Syracuse.

It was the type of opportunity the young Taylor had been using to feed an unnourished sense of challenge. Taylor had been playing up two grades since he was a second grader, and by middle school he yearned to face high schoolers and even college students.

But this? This was another notch up, even by Taylor’s naively-competitive standards.

“I was looking like, ‘Man, this kid is only in middle school. He’s about to be a beast,’” Jackson said. “He just had a swagger about him, a confidence about him. … He was going at us and it was weird to see it, but it was such a breath of fresh air. You don't see it too much.”

Taylor, now a senior at Grand Blanc, added: “I’d just find my way into a game and then try to earn some respect. I was like, ‘If I can do this against the college kids or high school seniors, I feel like I can do it against people that are my age,’ and that kind of kept going until high school.”

And Taylor used it to break the school’s all-time scoring record with 1,079 points over his on-going four-year career. He’s been a part of a pair of title teams, one a runner-up and one a champion, and he has a return trip in his sights before he departs to the University of Northern Iowa next season.

“If anything, I definitely think it's humbling,” Taylor said of the scoring accolade. “There's been some great players that have come through to Grand Blanc over the years.”

Jackson took a liking to Taylor at the open gyms. Perhaps he even saw a bit of himself in the young point guard and eventually took over at Grand Blanc this offseason after former coach Mike Thomas resigned.

And, while Jackson likes to joke that Taylor has quite a ways to go before he can get into the stratosphere of his own high school career mark of 2,518 points, he’s relished the chance to coach a lead guard with Taylor’s talent.

After their initial meeting back when Taylor was a middle schooler, they’d rub elbows at AAU tournaments. Taylor would pick Jackson’s brain, and Jackson happily took on the role of part-time mentor.

Jackson watched Taylor’s potential spark as a freshman. He’d earned the point guard role at Grand Blanc early and was prepared for the physicality after the countless time he’d spent in those open gyms playing against bigger, stronger and smarter competition.

“I knew there was a need for a pure point guard, but still it was kind of a battle,” Taylor said. “Going to practice every day, there were a lot of seniors on that team, and I was just a little freshman.”

But that following year? That’s when Taylor took off in the way Jackson had determined he was capable of back at those open gyms

“That sophomore year you really saw, ‘Oh shoot here he is,” Jackson said. “This is what he can be.”

He looked on as Taylor helped guide the Bobcats to a 2021 state title and finish as the runner-ups the following year.

“Once [Thomas] gave him that freedom, it really turned him into a beast,” Jackson said.

When Jackson arrived, he decided the Bobcats’ offense would run through Taylor.

“It's a luxury to have a point guard like that,” Jackson said.

Jackson said he’s hard on his point guards, but concedes there’s some things Taylor does on the court that even he’s envious of. He’s nicknamed him “The General.”

Taylor added: “For me to have him every single day as a resource, for him to be a point guard, for me to be a point guard, is definitely a blessing.

“He always says I’m an extension of him. … He's like the eyes off the court, and I'm kind of like the eyes on the court.”

This year’s Grand Blanc squad is filled with seniors. Most of the group has been playing together for years, and with Taylor — and his ruthlessly effective play as a pick-and-roll ball handler — on hand, the Bobcats have been able to get creative on offense and run what Jackson considers to be a more of a college system.

After a 3-2 start, the Bobcats have strung together eight straight wins, and at 11-2 with a perfect 6-0 record in the Saginaw Valley Conference, they look poised to once again be strong contenders come March.

“I think we’re starting to find our rhythm,” Taylor said. “We're kind of playing our brand of basketball. A lot of teams can’t play at the speed we play.”

And a lot of teams can’t keep up with Taylor.

Taylor’s decision to play at UNI next year is one he considered a “no brainer” because of its commitment to his recruitment and the team’s culture.

It will come with higher expectations and far more talented competition. It’s a leap he’s no doubt been preparing for since those open gym runs back in middle school, and while he’s thrilled to soon embark on the next step of his basketball journey, he’s not quite finished with his business in the Mitten State.

“The biggest thing we talk about is leaving a footprint in the area, doing something that not many have done, not only in the area, but the state,” Taylor said.

Taylor’s already done that with his scoring record. It means a lot to him, sure. But he wouldn’t trade his state title or the runner up for it. Those mean far more to him.

He and his teammates are ready to get greedy. They want one more.

If the Bobcats return to the title this season, it would be the first time in four decades that a team has gone to three straight Class A/Division 1 state titles.

“Your third year, if you make it back to the state finals, you’re kind of looked at as a legend in state history,” Jackson said of Taylor and the Bobcats. “You're not just the guy that kind of rode the coattails, you're the guy that led it.”

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