Recruiting Report: Taylor Peltier (2018)
Six foot guard Taylor Peltier is one of the Dunseith Dragons that stepped forward in the middle of a bridge year as the program moved forward.
Peltier was a key shooter on the 18-6 team during the 1015-16 season but last year his role was increased and it will increase even more this winter.
“I grew a lot as a basketball player my junior year,” Taylor told PHD. “Playing on a really good Dunseith team my sophomore year, my role was to just come in and shoot the ball because that’s what I did best.
“My junior year my coach expected me to do more of everything else and most of all be the leader of my team. We were a young team mostly full of juniors and sophomores, very little senior leadership so everyone sort of looked to me to lead.”
The team had it’s ups and down losing six of seven early in the year. They would turn that around and get four wins in five games late in the season including a win at Rugby.
So what is Dunseith looking like for 17-18? Taylor gave us a preview.
“I’m very excited to see how this year will play out in our district and region,” Taylor said. “Everything is wide open and we have a good chance to take it. I think a lot of people were looking at us to do really good last year, we had a really good summer last year but we just couldn’t get it done last year.
“We return practically everyone from last year’s team. Seniors Tannar Keplin’s game and Antione Rivera’s game is coming a long nice. Hunter Gladue is a nice player, he was all district last year along with me. He will only be a junior. I expect big things from the team this year. I will do anything I can to get to the ‘b’ my senior year. I feel like we have a great chance!”
Peltier earned all district for his all around performance and consistency as a junior. Being a leader was a big part of how he earned respect in the district. And the respect of his teammates that he went to work with everyday.
“Most of all out of my junior year, I learned how to be a leader. When my team needs me to get a steal or a bucket, I will try my best to get it. Another thing I will take out of my junior year is developing friendships with my teammates that I will always appreciate. Those guys are my brothers. It’s good to have good chemistry when it comes to being on the court with each other.”
Taylor has a lot of expectations on his shoulders this winter. What is he doing to handle those expectations? And what does he want to improve?
“I would say my ball handling would be my biggest part that I am trying to get better,” Peltier said. “I spend about 10-15 minutes everyday handling a basketball or two basketballs, I don’t have great speed but I need to get faster. I am in the gym a lot. I think that will come with time.
“My favorite thing to do is shoot the ball, who doesn’t like to shoot the ball though? It’s what I do best, if I didn’t shoot, my coach wouldn’t have me in the game, but I need to work on being more of a threat off the dribble and getting my shot off quicker. That would take my game to a whole different level. Getting better at finishing strong at the basketball would help a lot also.”
Yes Taylor we all love shooting the ball. But not all of us do it as well as you do! Peltier is challenging himself this summer by playing with the North Dakota Cougars.
“AAU/Grassroots is a different level of play. In my opinion it is tougher then the winter season. Most of the players are bigger, stronger, faster, and better than you. It is just a matter of who outworks who. They have challenged me to work on the defense end a lot harder because of the level that some of the kids I play against are a lot higher than what I usually go up against.
“I think it makes the winter season games easier, because those fast paced games make the slower games easier to control, and even the fast paced games easier to control because you know what to expect and what could happen.”
Taylor would also like to play basketball in college. He’s hoping that after a strong senior season a few schools will come calling about the next level.
“It’s never to early to start planning for college, my parents always tell me if you have a chance to play college sports, that you should take the chance,” Taylor said.
“Not a lot of people get to play college sports. I am very interested in playing college basketball. I would love to play college basketball. I am unsure however. I still don’t know where I am going to go. I am keeping my options open!”
College is a year away, right now Taylor is worried about taking his experiences with the Cougars and his summer work and getting ready for not just high school basketball, but football as well.
“My goal is to get better and be competitive in each of the sports I play. I am an all region football player, and I also play baseball, my main focus is basketball but I just want to be really good in everything I do. I am really competitive!
“Also one of the things that is a really big goal of ours on the football team is to get to the 9-man playoffs. Our football team hasn’t made the playoffs in over 30 years! We needed to win one more game last year!
“And for basketball, it’s been my dream ever since I was little to have a team in the state tournament. We are very excited to see how this year will play out for sports here in Dunseith will turn out. Everyone in the community is very excited!”
You see all those exclamation points? Taylor Peltier is excited for his senior year. And those at Dunseith should be as well.