Each kids road is different when trying to fulfill a dream. Sometimes the road is long and hard. This is when the spirit and will is tested. Many when faced with this; often will settle or compromise. They lose the will to fight and the dream starts to become a fantasy rather than a reality. In the case of Taylor Crystian, there was only one option and she left no room for compromise or failure. Taylor Crystian’s road was long with lots of twist and turns… but yesterday her long journey came to end. She made her dream of playing D1 basketball a reality… Taylor Crystian gave FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON UNIVERSITY a verbal commitment🤗
Sometimes things don’t go Smoothly when you are trying to do something only 1.8% of the girls playing high school basketball do…PLAY D1 BASKETBALL. Nobody knows this better than Taylor Crystian and her family. When Taylor Crystian entered Mater Dei high school. She was excited, to play in the Shore Conference and get a great education. She had a solid freshman year. Then in her sophomore year she exploded and scored over 300 points. But the problem was nobody knew who Taylor Crystian was. Mater Dei got little attention and played in a weak division, worst college coaches rarely attended their games. So while Taylor loved the school and her parents Simmee and Memone valued the education, they knew they needed a change. Her parents needed to protect their daughters dream.
Remember I told you every road is different? Well they also can be long and bumpy. When Taylor Crystian left Mater Dei for The Patrick School. It was a bold decision. She joined one of most competitive and talented teams in the state. A team with two power 5 guards who played her position. It was a strange choice of schools. She had to know playing time would be hard to come by. She went from being a star player to a fringe player on a great team in a instant. Taylor was about to face the biggest test of her athletic career to date. Taylor Crystian’s passed that test with flying colors. Because Taylor Crystian received big time coaching at TPS. Dael Ling was a teacher and educator first. He taught Taylor the value of hard work. He taught her how to deal with adversity. He is now is a college basketball coach at Caldwell College. Taylor Crystian got very lucky in having him in her life. She got to play against the best competition in practice, everyday as well. Then TPS played the toughness high school schedule maybe in the country. All this helped her become what she is today. A offensive and defensive force. She did what few kids do today. She didn’t walk away from hard times. They say hard times don’t last, only good people do…well TAYLOR CRYSTIAN is living proof of this.
I tell you Taylor Crystian’s road was full of twist and turns. Like when her family had to move back to RED BANK. Like when making the tuition was becoming an issue at the TPS, with a brother in college. Taylor Crystian and her family were feeling the hardships that life can bring us. While she is a off the charts student, she had to leave TPS and move back home to Red Bank. She didn’t want to spent her senior year in a weak program and she worried what was next. But Red Bank Reg beat RBC in the SCT under new coach John Truhan. So Taylor Crystian made a brave move and as it turns out, it was the best move she could’ve made. She took another gamble and decided to attend RBR. This just may have been her biggest risk of all.
Taylor Crystian has been special while playing for Coach Truhan. Not because she is there leading scorer. Not because she scored 31 points vs Manchester. Not because she was named 1st Team ALL WOBM. Not because she was MVP in there showcase game.Not because she helped do the impossible by helping RBR become a Top 20 team in the state. No, what has made her special is her trust in Coach Truhan. She has had to give up parts of game for the team. She had to willing to accept the changes Coach Truhan made to her game. She had to do all the things she needed to get ready for college. She has also mixed so well with her new teammates. But above all what makes her special is how brave she has been every step of the way. So often kids are afraid to get out of their comfort zone. Taylor Crystian has taken the road less traveled every step of the way and now has been rewarded!
FDU is getting a future star on and off the court. Here parents have given her all the tools needed to be successful in life. They have been her angels. FDU is getting one of best people and families a program could hope for in the Crystian’s family. Taylor is somebody who embraces everyone and everything. Somebody that knows how to laugh, work hard and be a true teammate. They are getting somebody who will fight threw hard times and remain positive always. This a kid who understands the word family. Her entire family is close. They all understand the journey Taylor has been on; they know she has walked the long road… RIGHT INTO THE ARMS OF FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON UNIVERSITY… congratulations to TAYLOR CRYSTIAN on making her dream come true.
