WHY RECRUIT DTX BASKETBALL?

 The DTX National Team student-athlete has a goal of playing basketball at the collegiate level. Spots on this team are EARNED, not given! Athletes are developed to play utilizing fundamental skills and a high basketball I.Q., two critical requirements for playing at the next level. We teach that it is not about winning, but about DEVELOPING our athletes and placing them in positions to succeed and reach their goals.    

 AT DTX, we focus on the entire athlete, both on and off the court. High academic standards and quality character are essential to play on our National Teams and circuit. Academics are not taken lightly, and DTX does semester grade checks to ensure players are succeeding in the classroom as well as on the court. DTX does not recruit or cut athletes based on performance. We believe in giving everyone an opportunity to develop their skills and use basketball as a catalyst for future achievements. 

 DTX's leadership and coaching experience allows them to pass on their knowledge to the program's athlete's creating future leaders while pursuing their college journeys. DTX has a list of professional certifications and licenses that include USA Basketball Gold License Membership, NABC Membership and certification through the NCAA BBS system. DTX personnel are held to high professional standards. Their commitment to the Program honors the DTX philosophy in developing athletes in self-awareness and holding them to a higher standard. 

Dave Taylor lives by one motto—adapt and overcome. This principle has led him to 25 successful years of coaching at the Division I collegiate level, inner-city high schools, and national basketball camps. It’s this single idea that has helped him impact the lives of thousands.

Early in Taylor’s life, he was tasked with overcoming his own circumstances. Growing up in Southern Los Angeles, Taylor was told early on that if he wanted to go to college, he’d have to find his own way. Determined to reach the university level, he fueled his diligent work ethic through basketball, choosing to avoid the lures of drugs and alcohol by honing his craft. Taylor’s commitment to staying clean and focused on basketball resulted in multiple scholarship offers from Division I schools, with his loyalties ultimately going to the Air Force Academy.

Following a two-and-a-half-year stint at the Air Force Academy, Taylor moved back to California, where he received his master’s degree in Kinesiology at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Taylor began his coaching career by taking a job as head coach at Templeton High School, where he took over an 0-17 team and led them to the final four of their division in only his second year with the program.

But the west coast couldn’t contain him for too long. After five years, he returned to the Air Force Academy to be an assistant men's basketball coach for their Division I basketball team. Taylor also coached their JV team, leading them to their only 20-win season in their history before being promoted to the #2 assistant. After four years at the Division I college level, Taylor realized it was not the place for him. Run too much like a business, with wins coming before player development, he retreated back to coach high school ball with one goal in mind—impact lives.

While coaching at various high schools around California, Taylor began getting involved with camps in the area. Impressed with his passion and commitment to youth development, he quickly became a popular figure among the coaching community, to the point where that is all he does now: run basketball camps around the world!

Coach Taylor is now INTERNATIONAL, running events in JAPAN, AUSTRALIA, HONG KONG, AND TAIWAN! In 2015, Coach Taylor ran the NIKE ALL-TAIWAN NATIONAL BASKETBALL CAMP. Coach Taylor has also been involved with a variety of national exposure camps, including the Adidas National Superstar Camp, the West Coast All-Star Camps, and the National Phenom Camps. Taylor has also worked with the Los Angeles Clippers, Sacramento Kings, and Los Angeles Sparks.

Coach Taylor also runs NCAA CERTIFIED BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTS in Anaheim, California, where he meets with the NCAA and hundreds of college basketball coaches. He also runs basketball camps domestically in Connecticut, Hawaii, Florida, California, Oregon, Oklahoma City, Texas, Ohio, Massachusetts, and many other cities—and possibly a city near you in the not-too-distant future.

Now, Dave’s pursuit to positively impact lives through basketball and education has taken a new path with the Dave Taylor X-Factor camps, where he will be flexing his motivational muscles in his own camp forum. As Dave will tell you, he’s never coaching basketball players but instead future politicians, lawyers, and doctors. Only a select few have the opportunity to play at the pro level, but everyone has the chance to be the best person they can be. Taylor just wants to help them realize their own potential.