ORLANDO – There’s no place like home. UCF’s BJ Taylor, who grew up in Orlando, played at nearby Boone High School, and starred for the Knights for five years, has agreed to participate in the NBA Summer League for his favorite team, the Orlando Magic.
Taylor did it all for UCF in his five seasons in the black and gold. Leading the Knights from his first day on campus, he also led the team in scoring each of the four years he played on the court. Taylor left UCF seventh in program history with 1,618 career points, the fourth most in the D1 era.
A master at getting to the line, Taylor is tied with Bo Clark for the all-time UCF record with 456 career free throws made. He’s also sixth in three-point field goals made (180) and sixth in career assists (324).
As a senior in 2018-19, he was named First Team All-Conference in the American Athletic Conference after averaging 15.9 points per game, scoring in double figures 29 times and setting a new UCF single-season record with 187 made free throws.
Taylor helped lead the Knights back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005 and their first win in the NCAA Tournament, a 73-58 first round victory over VCU.
He now gets started with the team he grew up watching. Taylor has always been an Orlando Magic fan, admiring Tracy McGrady to the point of choosing the number one for his jersey.
Taylor follows teammate Aubrey Dawkins, who signed a free agent deal with the New Orleans Pelicans early Friday morning. The two will get started in Summer League action in Las Vegas, beginning July 5.