IslandAthlete.com - Taylor Mounts - A Player You Need To Know

January 24, 2008

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IslandAthlete.com Basketball Analyst

Hawaii has never really been known as a Hot Bed for Hoops. But sometimes you just find a player that is worth watching.

Back in the summer of 2004 was when I first saw Taylor Mounts on the basketball court. It was a summer league game and I had asked a woman sitting next to me if she knew who the 6'2" lanky, skinny kid was. She promptly answered it was her son and that he would be entering Iolani School as a freshman in the fall. Immediately my thoughts went directly to "The Streak".

The Streak I am referring to are the consecutive victories over a Hawaii high school basketball team that the Iolani Raiders had so dominantly put together. Derrick Low (Washington State) had also just graduated from Iolani in the spring of 2004 after one of the most amazing and accomplished high school careers in the history of Hawaii prep basketball.

Fast forward to 2008. The Streak has since ended (102 straight games, give or take a win or two depending on who you talk to), Iolani's consecutive state championships ends at 5 in a row with the last coming in 2006, and that lanky, skinny kid is now 4" taller and has filled out quite nicely on his 6'6" frame. With his experience playing with past POY's Kyle Pape and Kawika Shoji along with two state championships under his belt, it is fitting that the 4 year varsity player has been named co-captain of this year's squad which is filled with very young but very talented basketball players. Pretty much like Mounts was just 3 and a half years ago.

It's hard to deny the fact that Mounts is having a POY-type of season himself. While leading his Raiders this regular season, he is averaging a stellar 13.5 points per game to go along with his 6.5 boards per game in the I.L.H., which is widely known as the state's toughest basketball league. No shot, though, has been bigger this year than the one Mounts hit with .5 seconds left on the clock against then top-ranked Punahou, which is, ironically, his dad's alma mater. That buzzer-beating basket gave Iolani a thrilling 43-41 victory. It was a classic battle between the two rivals that will rank as one of the most entertaining and exciting games played between the two Hawaii basketball powerhouses. Said Mounts, "That was the biggest shot of my career." When asked of his goals this year he states, "One of our team goals are to win a State Championship. It would be an awesome way to end my high school career." He lists one of his personal goals as being named to the All-State team.

The laid-back Kailua boy lists "hanging out with friends and going beach" as his favorite past-time if he is not on the court playing basketball. He has received interests from a few small colleges but Willamette University and Linfield College are probably the two that have been inquiring the most about his progress this year.

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