The powers that be behind the 2009 basketball recruiting rankings have been paying attention to the improvements in Dante Taylor’s game.

After averaging 18 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks per game during his junior season at National Christian Academy in Fort Washington, and playing to high acclaim this spring on the AAU circuit, Taylor was recently awarded with a pair of lofty rankings courtesy of two recruiting sites.

Scout.com now has Taylor as its No. 19 player in the country, while Rivals.com ranks the 6-foot-9, 225-pounder the No. 26 player for 2009.

NCA head coach Trevor Brown said it’s tough not to notice rankings that high.

“I mean, we kind of keep up with it because he’s kind of in that McDonald’s [All-American] range,” Brown said. “To him, it’s not that big of a deal, but when you get up in that range, it kind of becomes a big deal. ... When you start getting up in the [No.] 25 range, then you start talking about things [happening] for you.”

The interest in Taylor goes beyond the recruiting services. According to Brown, so many schools have shown interest and offered scholarships that it’s been difficult to keep track.

“He has a lot of offers,” Brown said. “Maryland, Kansas, Pittsburgh, Miami, Kentucky. He’s got a lot of them -- too many to name. Pretty much most of the Big East and ACC.”

Brown said Taylor has stayed humble throughout the recruiting process, focusing more on improving his ball-handling and mid-range game than which new school has come through with an offer.

“I mean he handles [recruiting] well,” Brown said. “Most of it goes through me anyway -- I’ve been in this business for a while now. I just don’t let everybody talk to the kids and call the kids and all that. That gets kind of crazy. So if five schools call today and say they’re interested in Dante Taylor, I’ll let him know which schools they are and he’ll say ‘yes [I’m interested]’ or ‘no [I’m not].'”

While Brown handles the phone calls, Taylor will work on putting together a list of schools he’d like to visit. The visits, according to Brown, will have to be taken before Taylor arrives at a decision and makes a commitment.

“It won’t be before the end of the summer,” Brown said. “He’s going to take visits and all that. I think it’s important for kids to take visits. You just never know. You might think you like a school and that coach might sound really good on the phone. Then you go visit the school and it’s not what you thought it was. So I encourage all of them to take their visits, and it’s going to be the same for him.”

This weekend, Taylor and his NCA teammates will travel to North Carolina for the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions. NCA assistant Bob Brooks said the tournament will be another opportunity for Taylor to show scouts that their high rankings were correct.

“He’s made a big jump already,” Brooks said, “but I think he’ll keep striving to be the No. 1 guy. He just wants to keep getting better. That’s Dante.”