Michael Rosario on Tyshawn TaylorWritten by: Todd RosiakI've been over at the McDonald's All-American fesitivities the last couple of days and on Tuesday afternoon during a media availability session with all the players, I was able to talk with Rutgers signee Michael Rosario.
Rosario, of course, is a guard from St. Anthony in Jersey City, N.J. who started in the same backcourt with MU signee Tyshawn Taylor. The two teamed up this season to lead the Friars to a 32-0 season, a national-record 25th state title in New Jersey, and the mythical high-school national championship.
First, I asked Rosario what Golden Eagles fans should expect out of Taylor.
"They're going to get a lot of athleticism, leadership, good point-guard vision because he's going to play the point," he said. "He's a big point, too, 6-3 1/2, and he's so quick and he can jump. They're going to get a lot out of him next year because he's a great player and he's going to build into a great player."
According to Rosario, Taylor played mostly point on a team that featured six seniors that signed to play for Division I teams this fall.
"And he played the wing a couple of possessions. He was good at both positions," he said. "He could basically play everything."
An interesting twist to Rosario's and Taylor's relationship is that the two discovered last season that they were distant relatives.
"He's a great guy, on and off the court. He's a good friend. That's my cousin from my father's side," Rosario said. "We didn't find out until the end of junior year. I found out from my grandmother. There's a whole lot to the story. We've been together since he came down to St. Anthony's; we used to hang out, but we never knew we were family. It was a crazy thing to find out. We just started hanging out a lot and spending a lot of time together."
Along with that familial bond, there's also been some good-natured ribbing between the two and the battles Rutgers and MU will have over the course of the next four seasons.
"We've been going back and forth, and can't wait to get on the court against each other," he said. "Just have a great time, no hard feelings. I told him when we get on the court, don't take no hard feelings. When we're on the court, we're strictly business."
Rosario said he and Taylor went at each other on plenty of occasions in practice at St. Anthony, famed as one of the toughest programs in America with coach Bob Hurley at the helm.
"That was one thing I loved about my team this year, because we had like, all guards," he said. "We had straight matchups going against each other like, every day. And that was great because we were all getting better every day."
Keeping that in mind, Rosario then expounded on what he thought Taylor needed to work on heading into MU -- perimeter shooting.
"That's the only thing he needs to work on. If he gets that down pat, he's going to be a good player," he said. "He's going to be a
great player. If he gets that jump shot down pat, his outside shot, there's no doubt I think he can make it to the (NBA). That's how much stock he has in himself.
"A lot of people don't know that around the country because they go off the Greg Monroes and the Brandon Jennings, so they don't really look into who the players are in the East. Nobody had really heard of him until he played at Reebok RBK camp. That's what basically got his name out there.
"But once people see him at Marquette and see how much he improves, and when he improves that jumper, it's going to be hard to stop him."
Rosario himself was once a recruiting target of MU, but said the fit was better for him at Rutgers.
"I thought it was a little bit too far away, but they were also recruiting me as a point guard," he said. "I wasn't looking to be recruited as that. (MU's) a great school."
http://blogs.jsonline.com/muhoops/archive/2008/03/25/michael-rosario-on-tyshawn-taylor.aspx
