By Rick Kozlowski

SHENANDOAH JUNCTION — Trust Daion Taylor not to tell a secret.

There’s no way the senior basketball player from Jefferson will tell you what’s inside a wrapped box.

That’s if Taylor even uses a wrap.

He certainly didn’t get a cast put on his fractured wrist before the state tournament.

Taylor, one of five double-digit scorers on his team, led an undefeated Jefferson team into the Class AAAA tournament while playing with a broken wrist.

He kept quiet about the injury; the secret was wrapped neatly in a box.

“He found out the week before the state tournament,” Jefferson coach Richard Lewis said. “The doctor wanted to put him in a cast, and he declined to do it.

“I didn’t find out until after the state tournament.”

That determination and devil-may-care attitude is part of the reason Taylor has been chosen as the winner of the Doug Huff Award from the West Virginia Sports Writers Association.

“It means a lot getting this award,” Taylor said, “and shows how I play.”

The award is for senior athletes who demonstrate “leadership, hustle and determination.”

The four-year starter and third-year captain for Jefferson fits the bill, the perfect embodiment of the honor.

“He always goes 100 miles per hour,” Lewis said. “He’s been starting four years, always putting it out there.

“He’s put in a lot of hard work in on the court.”

Doing so with an issue far more significant than a broken wrist, as it turns out.

Taylor discovered in the fall he suffers from Becker’s Disease.

It’s a genetic condition that is a form of muscular dystrophy.

He had been playing in an offseason tournament when he had to be rushed to a hospital when his legs “locked up,” he said. In essence, they were paralyzed.

It took some time for Taylor to receive a diagnosis of his issue. It was the first time he had experienced the symptoms.

The broken wrist was easier to find.

It was on a follow-up appointment in Morgantown for his Becker’s Disease that the broken wrist was discovered during X-rays.

He thinks he suffered the injury during a game against Hedgesville. He sat out the next game.

“After that, it felt a little better,” Taylor said.

So he resumed playing.

And there was no way he was going to allow his doctor to cast his wrist when he saw her before the state tournament.

“I wasn’t going for that,” Taylor said. “‘I’ll wait until after the state tournament.

“If I played before, I sure can keep playing.'”

He expects to have a cast put on next week.

All in all, it was a difficult senior season from a health standpoint, for sure.

“It was crazy,” Taylor said.

He never let on what he was going through, nor did he ever let his play let up.

“He’s fought through a lot,” Lewis said.

“For how reckless he plays … you wouldn’t know of his situation unless someone told you.

“He’s got a big heart.”

For Taylor, it’s all out all the time.

“I put a lot into my game — hustle and leadership,” Taylor said. “I’ve always been a point guard. I have to lead the team from the jump.

“I’ve taken on a big role, and I like it that way.”

He will be honored by the sports writers’ group with the award at the 75th Victory Awards Dinner set for May 1 at the Embassy Suites in Charleston.