After one season as an assistant coach for the James Madison men’s basketball team, Byron Taylor has been promoted to associate head coach for the 2017-18 season, as announced by Head Coach Louis Rowe.
“This is a well-deserved move for Coach Taylor,” Rowe said. “He was a crucial part of our first season here at JMU, as well as our recruiting efforts all year, and I’m looking forward to him taking on even more responsibility heading into next season.”
Taylor was one of Rowe’s first hires upon arriving at JMU prior to the 2016-17 campaign and was instrumental in both day-to-day operations of the program and the Dukes’ seven-player signing class for the 2017-18 season.
Prior to joining the Dukes, Taylor spent seven seasons at North Florida, including five as an assistant coach. At UNF, Taylor helped Head Coach Matthew Driscoll build the Ospreys into an annual power in the Atlantic Sun Conference. North Florida took home the regular season crown in both the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, winning 45 games combined across the two campaigns.
In 2014-15, UNF won its first-ever A-Sun Tournament title, advancing to the program’s first NCAA Tournament since it made the jump to Division I prior to the 2005-06 season. In his final two years, Taylor also proved crucial to the development of guards Dallas Moore, the 2015-16 ASUN Player of the Year, and Beau Beech, a two-time First Team All-ASUN selection.
Taylor also worked directly with a quartet of 1,000-point scorers at UNF in Travis Wallace, Parker Smith, Andy Diaz and Jerron Granberry. Diaz and Granberry accounted for multiple ASUN All-Tournament accolades, while Wallace was a Second Team All-ASUN selection and Smith was named to the All-ASUN First Team in addition to picking up Second Team NABC All-District honors.
“I am truly honored to be given this promotion,” Taylor said. “I would like to thank Coach Rowe for having confidence in me and allowing me to gain experience in every aspect of our program. I’m looking forward to continuing the work we’ve started to help our program improve and move in the right direction. We are truly excited about our program moving forward as we continue to develop our student-athletes on and off the court.”
http://jmusports.com/news/2017/5/25/mens-basketball-taylor-promoted-to-associate-head-coach.aspx
