Mercer head men’s basketball coach Ryan Ridder has made the final additions to his staff for the upcoming 2026-27 season.
Joining the Bears are Associate Head Coach Woody Taylor, Assistant Coach Tysor Anderson, Assistant Coach Nashad Mackey, Strength & Conditioning Coach Shawn Moran and Graduate Assistants, Jordan Harbeck and Reese Sauerbrun.
Woody Taylor – Associate Head Coach
Woody Taylor joins the Bears after spending the previous seven seasons at UNC Asheville. Taylor was an assistant coach for his first six seasons with the Bulldogs before being promoted to associate head coach prior to last season.
During the 2025-26 season, Taylor helped guide UNC Asheville to another strong campaign as the Bulldogs recorded at least eight conference wins for the seventh consecutive season and advanced to the Big South Tournament semifinals for the fourth straight year, making UNC Asheville one of just 22 programs nationally to achieve that feat. UNC Asheville led the conference in multiple offensive categories while holding opponents to the league’s lowest scoring average over the last three seasons. The Bulldogs produced five all-conference selections. UNC Asheville averaged more than 73 points per game for the seventh consecutive season and paced the conference with 13 games featuring multiple 20-point scorers.
In his fourth season in Asheville in 2022-23, Taylor helped the Bulldogs to one of their best seasons in school history. UNC Asheville not only posted a school record 27 wins on the season but also captured both the Big South Regular Season and Tournament Championships. The tournament title for the Bulldogs is their sixth in program history and with it earned the Big South’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, their first appearance since 2016.
In Taylor’s first season in Asheville, he helped the Bulldogs achieve one of the best turnarounds in the country. The Bulldogs went from a four-win team the season prior to a 15-16 record in 2019-20. The 11-win improvement ranked tied for third in Division I and UNC Asheville was one of just four teams in the country with a double-digit win improvement.
Taylor joined the Bulldogs staff after two seasons as an assistant coach at Bethune-Cookman, where he helped usher in unprecedented success for the Wildcats’ program. During the 2017-18 season – his first with the Wildcats – the team went 12-4 in MEAC play and earned a share of the regular-season conference title for just the second time in program history.
During their regular season championship, the Wildcats broke numerous school records, including scoring (2622 points and 81.9 per-game), free throws (575), attempts (820), rebounds (1346), rebounding average (42.1 and second nationally behind UNC) and assists (501).
Prior to his time at Bethune-Cookman, Taylor served as associate head coach at Salem (WV) International University during the 2016-17 season.
Taylor spent the three prior seasons at Marshall, where he began his coaching career as a graduate assistant in 2013. His core responsibilities included breaking down film, creating scouting reports, on-campus recruiting and player development.
Taylor earned a promotion during the 2015-16 season to interim assistant coach under head coach Dan D’Antoni. The Thundering Herd offense soared to new heights, averaging 86 points per game, which was tied for second nationally. The Herd obliterated school records in points scored (2,838) and 3-point field goals made (322) that year.
Before he took to the coaching ranks, Taylor had a standout career as a point guard for Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, from 2009-13. He helped lead his team to three-consecutive 20-victory seasons, and appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament as a junior and senior. Upon graduation, he ranked fifth in Eckerd history in games played, sixth in assists and seventh in free throw percentage and steals.
Tysor Anderson – Assistant Coach
Tysor Anderson joins the Bears after spending four seasons at SoCon foe, Wofford. After three seasons as an assistant coach, Anderson was promoted to associate head coach prior to last season.
Last year, the Terriers finished with a 19-13 overall record and 11-7 mark in conference play. Wofford’s 11-7 conference record was tied with Mercer and Samford for the second-best record in the league. Anderson coached three All-Conference players for the Terriers, including First Team selection Kahmare Holmes who averaged 19.5 points per game for the Terriers. Holmes increased his scoring average from his freshman to sophomore season by 15.4 points per game. In conference play, Wofford finished second in the conference in scoring (81.6 ppg) and field goal percentage (47.6%).
In 2024-25, Anderson helped guide Wofford to its sixth conference championship and NCAA Tournament appearance after defeating Furman in the Southern Conference Championship. Corey Tripp and Kyler Filewich received All-Southern Conference recognition and Filewich was named the Southern Conference Tournament MVP.
Anderson joined Jacksonville State’s staff in August 2019. Following a season serving as the coordinator of basketball operations, Anderson was named assistant coach in October of 2020.
In 2021-22, he helped guide JSU through its transition into the ASUN Conference as the program won its first Division I regular-season conference title with a 13-3 conference mark. JSU finished 21-11 overall, earning a trip back to the NCAA Tournament after its ASUN championship.
Senior Darian Adams, who garnered First-Team All-ASUN honors and was an NABC All-District selection, led the way with 477 points for the third-most in a single-season by a Gamecock. Fellow seniors Brandon Huffman and Kayne Henry were also a driving force averaging right at 10 points per game while being the top two rebounders for the season. Junior Demaree King led the NCAA in three-point field goal percentage at 45 percent with a school-record 84 threes in a season.
Anderson, an Atlanta, Georgia native. came to Jacksonville after spending the previous four seasons as a head coach at the high school level. He served as head coach at Atlanta’s South Gwinnett High School from 2016 to 2018 before taking the head coaching job at Holy Spirit Prep in 2018.
In his first season at South Gwinnett in 2016-17, Anderson led the Comets to their first state playoff appearance since the 2008-09 season.
At Holy Spirit Prep in 2018-19, Anderson steered the Cougars to a 20-14 overall record, perfect 10-0 mark in the region and an appearance in the GISA State Championship game. Anderson coached future NBA first-overall pick Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves while at Holy Spirit Prep.
In the collegiate ranks, Anderson spent two seasons as an assistant coach. His 2011-12 season was spent at South Georgia State College, and he served in the same capacity at the University of North Georgia during the 2015-16 season. In between those stops Anderson served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cambodia from 2012 to 2014.
Anderson is a 2010 graduate of Georgia Tech where he received his degree in Social Science, Technology and Culture, and also earned a certificate in Business Management.
As a walk-on for the Yellow Jackets, Anderson lettered three years and served one season as a student assistant under head coach Paul Hewitt.
Anderson is the grandson of legendary, Hall of Fame, college basketball coach Charles “Lefty” Driesell, who retired in 2003 after 41 years as a head coach at Davidson, Maryland, James Madison and Georgia State.
Nashad Mackey – Assistant Coach
Nashad Mackey joins the Bears after spending the previous two seasons at USC Upstate as an assistant coach.
During his first season with the Spartans, Mackey assisted Head Coach Marty Richter in the development of the youngest team in the NCAA. Mackey was an integral part of the training and development of players like Carmelo Adkins who was named to the Big South All-Freshman Team, Breylin Garcia who was named Big South Player of the Week on Dec. 16, 2024, and helping coach the Big South Freshman of the Year in Mister Dean.
Mackey joined the Spartans after helping UT Martin to its first Ohio Valley Conference Regular Season Championship in his lone season in West Tennessee, helping the Skyhawks to a program-record 14 conference victories and 21 victories overall. Charged with heading UT Martin’s player development, he mentored three All-OVC players as guard Jordan Sears (First Team) and forwards Jacob Crews (First Team & All-Newcomer) and Issa Muhammad (Second Team) brought home honors.
He joined the Skyhawks following one season at Daytona State College, helping the Falcons to a program-best 27 victories and an FCSAA Central Conference Championship en route to a No. 8 national ranking—the highest end-of-season ranking in program history. Under his tutelage, Crews garnered NJCAA Second Team All-American and Central Conference Player of the Year honors.
Mackey joined Daytona State following a two-season stint as a graduate assistant at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. In his second season with the Eagles, Mackey helped the program to its first-ever NCAA Division II National Tournament appearance, concluding with a 24-10 record and a Sweet 16 appearance.
In addition to his collegiate coaching experience, Mackey has been an assistant coach with the Bahamas National Team. He was selected as an assistant coach for the team at the 2026 World Cup Qualifying.
He began his coaching career following a stellar four-year collegiate career, recording 1,663 points and 1,319 rebounds at Daytona State (2015-17) and Embry-Riddle (2017-19). At Embry-Riddle, he is the only player in program history to average a double-double (17.2 points and 12.2 rebounds per game) in a career while earning back-to-back Sunshine State All-Conference selections. At Daytona State, he brought home Mid-Florida Conference Player of the Year and NJCAA All-American honors.
A native of Nassau, Bahamas, Mackey graduated from Embry-Riddle in 2019 before earning his master’s from the institution in 2022.
Shawn Moran – Strength & Conditioning Coach
Shawn Moran joins the Bears as the strength and conditioning coach after spending last season with Duke men’s basketball as the team’s assistant sports performance coach.
This is Moran’s second stint in the Southern Conference as prior to Duke, he was the assistant strength and conditioning coach at Furman during the 2024-25 season.
Before joining the Paladins, Moran was the director of basketball performance at Tusculum University during the 2023-24 season, and he was an athletic performance intern at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 2022-23.
Moran earned his bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and Exercise Science from West Virginia Wesleyan College in 2023 before earning his MBA from Tusculum in 2024.
Jordan Harbeck – Graduate Assistant
Jordan Harbeck joins the Bears after working with the Dayton men’s basketball program as a student manager. Harbeck graduated from Dayton in the spring with a Bachelor of Science in sport management.
Reese Sauerbrun – Graduate Assistant
Reese Sauerbrun joins the Bears after working with the Ohio State men’s basketball program as a student manager. Sauerbrun graduated from Ohio State in the spring with a bachelor’s degree in sport industry.
https://mercerbears.com/news/2026/6/17/mens-basketball-ridder-finalizes-mens-basketball-staff
