Whenever March appears for basketball fans, a certain madness on the court seems to follow. For our 13WMAZ athlete of the week, Jamal Taylor, he definitely has gotten the memo.
In back to back playoff games, the senior has made the buzzer beater game winning basket to keep his team alive.
“It’s just been God!”, says Taylor. “God been talking to me so these last few games I’ve envisioned it. So I just let God take the wheel.”
The talented senior guard also shines on the football field earning both region player of the year honors in basketball and football but his coach says he does something even better than sports.
“He’s a much better student than he is a player”, says head coach Ricky Chatman. “He’s a great kid all the way around. You never have to say anything twice or ask him to pick it up.”
Poised to play in his second state championship in back to back seasons, Taylor averages nearly 20 points for the class A Public Bulldogs and carries a 3.5 GPA. He says he multitasks to maximize his efforts with both the ball and the books.
Taylor says, “You know grades are important and you can’t get into college or be successful without high grades, so I try to focus in the classroom to get where I need to be in the future.”
And with the state championship just days way, he has dreams of improving their near perfect record with only one loss to 17-1 and another title banner for the gym.
“Very excited this game is going to be our last high school game ever”, says Taylor. So we just want to repeat and get another championship. I want to leave my mark. I want to make history going back to back winning it and doing it with my teammates and my coaches.”
Game time is Saturday at 12:30 p.m. vs Towns County at the Macon Coliseum.