Taylor, also a Prairie View A&M University signee, is coming off a banner 2017 campaign, where he was named the Texas Sportswriters Association’s Class 5A All-State defensive player of the year and also selected as the defensive player of the game in the Mavs’ narrow state finals defeat to Highland Park in December.
“It’s an awesome honor and I can’t wait to go for the festivities,” Taylor said.
Taylor delivered breakout performances both for the season with 119 tackles and 12 sacks and in the state title contest with 10 tackles, half of which went for losses.
The Mavs went 14-1 last fall and advanced to the state championship for the second time in school history under Kirk Martin, who left Manvel following National Signing Day last week to assume the quarterback coaching chores at Syracuse University.
“The keys to my season was knowing I had good teammates behind me and it was a real fun experience learning to be the type of leader I would like to be,” Taylor said.
Taylor will join 89 other inductees for the ceremonies. The HOF field also includes Galveston athletes Jerry A. Waddles (football), Bobby Lee Hilton (football), Earley “Red” Holmes, Jr. (baseball) and Reginald Matthews, Jr. (football, posthumous); Sugar Land’s Roland “Tetoe” Morgan (football); the Baytown trio of Harold Johnson (football), Howard Sampson (PVIL–UIL bridging the gap, football) and Johnnie Coleman, Jr. (PVIL-UIL bridging the gap, basketball); the Bay City duo of Floretta Brown Collins (tennis) and Willie Rollins (tennis); and the Conroe pair of Joe Donald Smith (football) and Charles McCloud, Sr. (baseball).
Other inductees are Montgomery's Edward Harris (football) and John Bailey (PVIL-UIL, bridging the gap); the Willis pair of Jesse Surgers (football) and Garrett Dickerson (football); Hemphill's Lester King (PVIL-UIL, bridging the gap); the Jasper foursome of Willie King (football), Virginia Adams (basketball), Ruthie Hadnot (basketball) and Evelyn Armstrong McQueen (basketball); and the Livingston quartet of Walter King (football), James Edward Phillips (football), Floyd Vernon Eleby (football) and Arthur Mae Jackson (basketball).
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