Taylor Thomas Hendricks (born November 22, 2003) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

UCF Knights The UCF Knights are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Central Florida in unincorporated Orange County, Florida near Orlando, Florida, Orlando. The Knights participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NC ...

. As a freshman, he was a Second-team All-AAC and AAC All-Freshman Team selection. He was a three-time

Florida High School Athletic Association The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) is a not-for-profit organization designated by the Florida Legislature as the governing organization to regulate all interscholastic activities of high schools in Florida. It is a member of ...

(FHSSA) champion.

Early life

Hendricks grew up in

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the ...

and initially attended NSU University School. The 2018–19 University team with, which included

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Scottie Barnes Scott Wayne Barnes Jr. (born August 1, 2001) is an American professional basketball player for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Florida State Seminoles men's basketball, Flo ...

, Jace and Jett Howard, successfully defended its FHSSA Class 5A State championship with a victory over Andrew Jackson High School, despite Carey being sidelined for the championship game. He transferred to Calvary Christian Academy after his sophomore year. Hendricks averaged 14.1 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game during his junior season while Calvary Christian won the Florida 3A state championship. As a senior, he was named the

Broward County Broward County ( ) is a County (United States), county in Florida, United States, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's second-most populous county after Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the List of the most ...

Player of the Year after averaging 15.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game as Calvary Christian repeated as state champions. Hendricks was rated a four-star recruit and committed to playing college basketball for UCF over offers from the likes of

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

, Miami (Florida),

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...

, and

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State be ...

. His commitment made him the highest-ranked recruit in UCF history.

College career

Hendricks entering his freshman season at UCF was not seen as an NBA prospect. He started as the Knights' starting power forward. On November 8, 2022, he opened the season with a 23-point, 2-steal and 3-block effort against UNC Asheville. He was named the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

(AAC) Rookie of the Week for a conference record four consecutive weeks (November 21 through December 12). The only other player to win the American Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week award three weeks in a row was

Austin Nichols Austin Nichols (born April 24, 1980) is an American actor and director, known for his role as Julian Baker in The CW drama series '' One Tree Hill''. He is also known for his roles in the films '' The Day After Tomorrow'' and ''Wimbledon''. He ...

. When Hendricks won his sixth American Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week on January 16, 2023, he tied

Jalen Duren Jalen Montez Duren ( ; born November 18, 2003) is an American professional basketball player for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Memphis Tigers. A center, he stands and wei ...

Precious Achiuwa Precious Ezinna Achiuwa (born September 19, 1999) is a Nigerian professional basketball player who last played for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He attended high school in the United States, where he was a cons ...

and

Dedric Lawson Dedric Lawson (born October 1, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for the Memphis Tigers and the Kansas Jayhawks. High sch ...

for the conference single-season record. On February 6,

Jarace Walker Jarace Isaiah Walker ( ; born September 4, 2003) is an American professional basketball player for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Walker was a consensus five-star recruit and one of the top players in the 2022 c ...

won his sixth AAC Rookie of the Week award, tying the group. Hendricks won for a seventh (February 13), eighth (February 27), and ninth time (March 6) to move ahead of the pack and up his career-high to 25 points on February 26 against the

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

. Hendricks was named to the All-AAC 2nd team and the All-Freshman team. Following the end of the season he entered the

2023 NBA draft The 2023 NBA draft, the 77th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft, was held on June 22, 2023, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The draft consisted of 58 picks instead of the typical 60 for the second ...

and signed with an agent, forgoing the remainder of his college eligibility.

Professional career

The

selected Hendricks with the ninth overall pick in the

. Hendricks became the highest NBA draft pick, the first lottery pick, and the first one-and-done player in UCF history. Hendricks scored a career high 12 points against the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

on December 16, 2023. On October 28, 2024, Hendricks suffered a fractured right fibula and dislocated ankle against the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

. He missed the remainder of the 2024-25 season.

Personal life

Hendricks is the son of Danielle Hendricks. He has two brothers, Tyler, who also plays at UCF, and Jamal Jones.

Career statistics

NBA

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Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

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, 3 , , 3 , , 25.0 , , .222 , , .250 , , .750 , , 5.0 , , .7 , , 1.7 , , 1.3 , , 4.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 43 , , 26 , , 21.7 , , .434 , , .368 , , .788 , , 4.7 , , .8 , , .8 , , .8 , , 7.1

College

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, style="text-align:left;", UCF , 34 , , 34 , , 34.7 , , .478 , , .394 , , .782 , , 7.0 , , 1.4 , , .9 , , 1.7 , , 15.1

References

External links

UCF Knights bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hendricks, Taylor 2003 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Broward County, Florida Calvary Christian Academy (Florida) alumni NSU University School alumni Power forwards Salt Lake City Stars players UCF Knights men's basketball players Utah Jazz draft picks Utah Jazz players 21st-century American sportsmen