Thanks to great sources who got HoopDirt.com out in front of this one over the weekend. It has now been made official, Anderson University Head Men’s Basketball Coach Jason Taylor has resigned to accept an assistant coaching position at Tennessee Tech.
“We are very appreciative and proud of the job Jason has done,” said Anderson Director of Athletics Bill D’Andrea. “He has been an outstanding coach and we will stand on his shoulders as we move forward.”
Taylor, who assumed the reigns of the Trojans’ men’s basketball program prior to the 2006-07 campaign, became Anderson’s all-time winningest men’s basketball coach midway through the 2011-12 season and averaged more than 17 wins a season, including 21 wins a season over the past six years.
The Clarkrange, Tenn., native led AU to its’ first-ever appearance in the Elite Eight in 2011, and guided the Trojans to four 20-win seasons over the six-year span. Under Taylor’s leadership, Anderson made its fourth appearance in six seasons in the NCAA Southeast Region Tournament in 2013-14.
In 2011, AU capped off a second straight stellar season by becoming the first team from the state of South Carolina since Lander in 1999 to claim a regional championship and just the second South Atlantic Conference school to earn a trip to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.
Making their second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the Trojans nearly reached the Final Four after defeating 10th-ranked Lincoln Memorial and third-ranked Augusta State en route to the school’s first-ever Southeast Regional title in March, 2011.
After guiding his team to its’ second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship contest in 2012, Taylor was named the Southeast Region Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). He led the Trojans to a school-record 26 wins during the 2011-12 season and was also named the South Atlantic Conference Coach of the Year after leading Anderson to the league’s regular-season crown with a stellar 17-1 record four seasons ago, as AU became just the second current member since Carson-Newman in 2001-02 to go through the league slate with just one loss.
“I want to especially thank Bobby Beville, Nancy Simpson and President Whitaker,” said Taylor. “They have been my colleagues, mentors and friends. And I want to thank Bill D’Andrea. I’m excited for the future of Anderson University athletics under his leadership. I want to thank the entire Anderson University community and Anderson county as a whole for making the past 12-plus years the best they possibly could have been.”
He originally joined the Anderson coaching staff in May, 2003 as an assistant coach and head junior varsity coach, spending three seasons with head coach Doug Novak.
Taylor earned an associate of science degree from Roane State in 1999 and a B.S. degree in health and physical education from Jacksonville State University in 2001 and two years before arriving at Anderson, Taylor was the assistant basketball coach, adjunct professor of physical education and fitness center supervisor at Roane State.
http://www.autrojans.com/article.asp?articleID=6891
Photo Courtesy: AU Athletics
