Fortin Earns Full Ride
Wilbraham & Monson Academy post-graduate guard Taylor Fortin signed a National Letter of Intent with Saint Anselm College at a special ceremony at the WMA Athletic Center on May 15th.
Fortin established himself as one of the top players in the CIAC last year as a senior at Tolland High School before playing with the Connecticut Basketball Club on the AAU circuit.
He was a consistent staple of Wilbraham & Monson’s attack this season, establishing himself as the team’s point guard early in the season and increasing his role throughout the course of the year.
“I don’t think I would have been able to do this without the Academy,” Taylor said. “Coach (Chris) Sparks and (Mike) Mannix did so much for me. They put my name out there and put me in position to be in front of the best players in the country. That’s how I got a scholarship.”
Fortin was limited by a nagging ankle injury through the AAU calendar and WMA’s fall pre-season, but was playing some of the best basketball of his career down the stretch as the Titans advanced to the semifinals of the NEPSAC AA tournament.
“I think Taylor was far and above our most consistent player during the course of the year,” Sparks said. “You knew what you were going to get on both ends of the floor. When he had to step up and score 30 points against Worcester Academy, he did it; and when he had to distribute the ball and get nine assists against St. Thomas More, he did it. Whatever it took to win, he was there to do it.”
Fortin also possesses all the intangibles that coaches look for in their point guards.
“He has remarkable character, he’s a good student and obviously a terrific basketball player so he has the three things every college and university are looking for,” Sparks said. “To come in as a postgraduate and do what he did not only from a basketball standpoint but also his character and leadership are really the reason why we had the success we had.”
Taylor Fortin