FEATURE STORIES
LARRY TAYLOR
BASKETBALL WITH A VERTICAL VISION
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ARRY TAYLOR ’16, ’18 (MBA) is an investor in the next generation. Orchestrating numerous basketball camps locally and globally through his outreach program, Vertical Vision, Larry has discovered how to incorporate his natural gifts with his passion for mentoring. After a full history of playing collegiatelevel basketball, including two years on the men’s team at Southeastern, Larry was not ready to push his love for the game aside following graduation. “I did not want to let the ball stop bouncing just because I stopped playing,” he recalled. “I kept asking God over and over again,‘How can I continue to bless others with the game of basketball?’” Enlisting the help of his former Southeastern teammates MATTHEW CROWE ’16 and JOSUE CELESTIN ’18, Larry began hosting basketball camps throughout southwest Florida and in Texas.
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“I wanted God to be able to use me in a way that impacted communities and empowered our youth,” he said. In answer to his prayer, Vertical Vision was born. Larry began expanding the scope of his mission, organizing clothing drives for Boys and Girls Clubs in the local communities and donating scholarships to students in need. During his undergraduate years, Larry raised enough money to give scholarships to two Southeastern students, TALISHA NELMS ’19 and JUAN BUITRON. When Larry returned as a graduate student, he was able to provide another scholarship for a Fire football player — ROBERT “BOB” GREATHOUSE III ’18. “I wanted to help students who were so determined to accomplish their vision even in the midst of chaos in their personal lives,” said Larry. His next step with Vertical Vision landed him in Guangzhou, one of the largest cities in China. After connecting
with a friend who was running an underground church in Guangzhou, Larry was able to host a series of basketball camps there in the summers of 2018 and 2019. Ranging from three to five days, the camps were created for children of all age groups. In 2018, Larry traveled with the sole company of his sister, who ended up staying in the city a year longer to work as a teacher. Although he had assistance from translators, Larry realized that if he came back to China for another summer, he would need more individuals who could help him with leading drills and teaching the fundamentals. In 2019, he recruited his dad, Kurt, and his former Fire men’s basketball teammate LINWOOD ROSS ’19. When it came to structuring the camps, a specific skill was emphasized each day. They covered ball-handling, shooting techniques, how to play defense and physical conditioning.
