Kyuata "KT" Taylor has gone thru plenty of adversity in his life. It began with the death of his dad before he was born. He didn't know anything about his dad before he died. His mom Minnie Taylor was a housekeeper at the Holiday Inn while he was growing up.
" My mom raised me and did the best that she could." Taylor stated.
Taylor was eight years old when he took an interest in basketball. He played at his local rec center called Thurgood Marshall recreation. It was close to the area where Taylor grew up. That area that KT spoke of is at East 40th and Quincy. He grew up as the only boy in his family. Taylor has three sisters- two younger and one older than him.
This is what Taylor had to say about the area:
" It was not known to be a good area in downtown Cleveland. It was definitely different growing up there."
Basketball was a common thread for sure. Taylor ended up going to high school at East Tech. He had good things to say about his time there despite what other people may have said about the school.
"It was a good time in high school at East Tech. When I first got there I wasn't sure I was going to last there because I had heard so many bad things about it and where it was located. It wasn't in the best of neighborhoods but it was a lot different than the stories I have heard. My high school coach and friends made it a great time for me.
The East Tech product described what made his times as an underclassmen so fun:
" The most fun I had was an upperclassmen. It all started that summer heading into my junior year. I started working with my high school coach Brett Moore everyday- doing everything from lifting and believing in my skills more than I did in the past. Mentally I was in a good place and that basketball season I feel like I played the best basketball of my whole life.
Taylor continued about what he has learned from his past coaches:
"What I learned from my past coaches that I use today is they used to tell me is I have all it took to do anything I just have to believe in myself."
KT talked about what the hardest part was of his high school days:
" The most challenging times came as an underclassmen. It was tough for me because I was a freshman and came in with a little hype. Was trying to figure out how I was ever going to live up to that hype. The biggest thing was I did not want to let anyone down. The potential was there but I didn't feel like I played to the best of my abilities."
Taylor told me how it was an easy decision coming out of East Tech on where he was going to go to college. Coach Koening and Coach Baab were in attendance for most of if not all his high school games. That proved the interest the staff had in the East Tech alum.
Taylor would have one of the best careers in NDC history from 2014-2018. He was top five in school history in several categories. Points (1932-) Field Goals made (699-) 3-pointer's made (301-) Assists (282-) minutes (3991-) and- minutes average (33.5.) He also accumulated 188 steals- played in 119 games- starting 111. He was All-MEC- Second team his junior season and All MEC Honorable mention his senior year.
Taylor had this to say about his time at NDC and what he learned from his coaches:
"My time at NDC was one of the best times of my life because I made a lot of lifelong friends and had a great career. Some up's and down's definitely occurred in my tenure but that's what makes the journey worthwhile. A lot was learned from the coaches at NDC, the main thing being I had to learn how to hold myself accountable, and taking full responsibility of my choices. I learned the choices you will make affect a lot more than you thought it will."
He still keeps in contact with some of his former NDC teammates, including Jake Lavis- Tyree Gaiter- and- Aaron Biedelman. He still follows NDC hoops to this day.
The former NDC grad and East Tech star has continued his basketball career overseas. The brother of two younger- and- one older sister (his oldest sister Nikeisha Judge is a 31 year old hairdresser- middle sister Kadijah Karan is a 21 year old artist- and- his youngest sister Gemesha Weaver is 18 and will be attending Cleveland State this fall) is playing for the Cartagena Bulls. The Bulls are located in Cartagena, Spain and play in Group E of the EBA (European Basketball Association.) It is going great there. Taylor makes 2500 a month which isn't bad- but the biggest adjustment as expected is the culture.
Taylor closed with this thought:
" The culture was very difficult for me to adjust to because of the language barrier. I didn't know a lot of Spanish so I didn't really understand what they were saying- but as the days went by I got better at learning what they were saying and adjusting."
Not that big of an an adjustment from a guy who gone thru as much adversity as Taylor has in his lifetime.
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