Tag: joni taylor

Where did Texas A&M Women’s Basketball land in the newest SEC Coaches poll?

The 2024 SEC preseason coaches’ poll is out, and the Texas A&M Aggies are expected to be an improved team under year two on coach Joni Taylor

Head basketball coach Joni Taylor had a challenging start to her Aggie career, starting with replacing one of the more iconic basketball coaches in Texas history in Hall of Famer Gary Blair to barely being able to dress a team due to injuries.

The coaches in the SEC also see Texas A&M making a big jump from the bottom of the SEC to being voted into the sixth spot in the SEC Coaches Poll. Two Aggies were also announced to the All-SEC team, sophomore Janiah Barker (1st team) and Auburn transfer Aicha Coulibaly (2nd team), and will be looked to this season for leadership.

Year one is now in the rearview mirror, a new motto of toughness has been established, and an aggressive offseason recruiting plan has given the Aggies to show their growth with the move to bring in a talented crop of transfers combined with her stellar reputation as a coach in the league.

The Aggie Women’s Basketball team will be back in action two weeks after they take on A&M-Corpus Christi at Reed Arena on November 9th at 6:00 pm CST.

‘Last year, our motto was ‘becoming, ’This year it’s ‘tough.’” Joni Taylor previews Texas A&M’s upcoming basketball season at SEC Media Days

In taking the podium at SEC media days, Joni Taylor let it be known that she will lead a tough and scrappy team in to the 2024 season

Texas A&M basketball head coach Joni Taylor spoke at SEC media days on Wednesday, and her motto for this season is “tough.”

Coach Taylor had a rough start to her inaugural season, littered with injuries barely allowing her to dress a team most of the year. They finished the year 9-20 overall and 2-13 in SEC play, failing to make the NCAA tournament.

The challenging season did end with some signs of promise that the team made it to the Quarterfinals, beating Vanderbilt and Mississippi State before falling 77-60 to Ole Miss. Coach Taylor followed that up with a Gold medal performance at the FIBA World Cup.

Those were just a few of the highlights from her time at the podium, in which she shed light on the team’s mindset and preparation for what should be a bounce-back season for the Maroon & White.

Here is more of what Aggies basketball head coach Joni Taylor said at SEC media days on Wednesday.

Defending Champs LSU top the pre-season rankings at number one with the Aggies on the outside looking in.

While the Aggies did not make the Top 25 preseason ranking, they are in a good position to make a huge leap from last year

On Tuesday, the NCAA dropped their pre-season Top 25 poll for the upcoming Women’s basketball season. To no one’s surprise, the reigning champions. LSU Tigers come in at number one, and adding Louisville transfer Hailey Van Lith alongside Angel Reese makes them the top dog.

The Iowa Hawkeyes, led by All-American Caitlin Clark, came in at No. 3 right behind UConn. Leading the way in conference rankings is the Pac-12, with six ranked teams in the SEC finished with five. However, our beloved Aggies are not one of those five teams, and to be blunt…we all knew that would be the case.

Last year was an interesting season for new head coach Joni Taylor. She was replacing a Hall-of-Fame coach, Gary Blair, who brought a Championship to Aggieland and was on a semi-retirement tour simultaneously. To pile on a little bit more, she had a young team that lost multiple leaders, ultimately leading to a 9-20 overall record and 2-14 in the SEC.

Texas A&M could’ve easily rolled over in the SEC tournament, but instead, they rolled up their sleeves and knocked off Vanderbilt and Mississippi State before falling 77-60 to Ole Miss in the Quarterfinals.  Along with ending the season strong, Coach Taylor brought home a gold medal at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

There is a strong case for the Aggies to be the comeback team and coach for the year simply because of the roster turnover during the off-season. She started off hot on the high school recruiting trail, bringing in 3 top 100 players from the class and the number one player in Texas. But most of the heavy lifting came through the transfer portal, resulting in a top-five ranking. The junior guard Aicha Coulibaly leads that group from Auburn, who was recently named a 2nd team All-Conference pick ahead of next season.

Being a year removed from a down season and finally being able to put her stamp on the team, Coach Taylor will have a completely different-looking team outside her two returning freshman standouts. She is one of the younger and extremely talented coaches, so getting this team back on track will not be a problem, and we hope to see them push to be one of the top SEC teams moving forward.

Below, you can check out the schedules and off-season activities the team participated in as they prepare for the season.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes, and opinions. Follow Jarrett Johnson on Twitter: @whosnextsports1.

Texas A&M head Women’s basketball coach Joni Taylor leads USA team to gold medal

All she sees is gold as Texas A&M coach Joni Taylor leads the U19 USA team to a first place finish in Madrid

Coach Taylor must really like gold because she led the USA U19 women’s team to a 69-66 win over Spain in Madrid in front of a massive crowd to take on the 2023 FIBA world cup title. This is her fourth gold medal with USA Basketball after previously winning the following:

  • 2023 U19 FIBA World Cup – Head Coach
  • 2022 U18 FIBA World Cup – Head Coach
  • 2022 Woman’s National Team – Assistant Coach
  • 2019 U19 FIBA World Cup – Assistant Coach

The Women’s team has been dominant all tournament long leading to two from team USA making the All-Star Five Joyce Edwards and Hannah Hidalgo.

Coach Taylor has shown us constantly that she can coach best some of the best in the world and get the most out of her girls. It also helps with recruiting when one of the up-and-coming coaches has a few gold medals on her resume. Hopefully this is just a preview of the world-class system coach Taylor is reestablishing back in Aggieland.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes, and opinions. Follow Jarrett Johnson on Twitter: @whosnextsports1.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=7]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01fvdd4pnb49trk727 player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=]

Texas A&M Coach Joni Taylor has a court named in her honor in Mississippi

The city of Meridian honored Head Texas A&M Women’s basketball coach Joni Crawford-Taylor by naming local basketball courts after her.

One way we, as humans, honor each other is through acknowledgment, either privately or publicly. Those who excel in their respective field might come in the form of plaques or trophies. The legends have their names added to a community landmark. In the case of Aggies Women’s basketball coach Joni Taylor, her hometown of Meridian, Mississippi, unveiled the “Joni Crenshaw-Taylor” basketball courts at Velma Young Park. The ribbon cutting was held on June 23rd.

Below are a few comments from Coach Taylor on her court naming:

“I grew up watching (former NBA basketball player) Derrick McKey, who just had a court named after him in Highland Park. Then there’s (former football player) Dexter McCleon and (former women’s basketball player) Vicky Hood. There are just so many people from Meridian who have done so many amazing things, not just athletically,”

“To even think that my name would come up in any conversation in regards to putting my name on something – it’s really overwhelming. It’s humbling, I’m grateful and I haven’t processed all of what that means,”

Taylor has a standout two-sport athlete that excelled in basketball and track. On top of leading her high school basketball to a 67-7 record in her final two year, she also took home the 1997 Gatorade Player of the Year for Mississippi. She was also no slack in Track & Field, as she earned three state titles in high school. As she transitioned into coaching, she picked multiple awards along her way to Aggieland:

  • Georgia College Coach of the Year (2016, 2018, 2021)
  • 2016 Spalding Maggie Dixon National Rookie Coach of the Year
  • 2018 Werner Ladder Naismith National Coach of the Year Semifinalist
  • 2021 SEC Coach of the Year
  • 2022 USA National Team FIBA Women’s World Cup (Gold)
  • 2022 FIBA U18 Americas Championship (Gold)

Joni Taylor has been a great representative of her hometown and has been a great addition to the Aggie family. I’m expecting great things to come from Taylor as she starts to put her stamp on this program.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes, and opinions. Follow Jarrett Johnson on Twitter: @whosnextsports1.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=7]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01fvdd4pnb49trk727 player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=]

SEC announces Aggie Basketball representatives for upcoming media days

SEC announces Aggie Basketball representatives for upcoming media days

College basketball season is upon us, and two weeks from now, head coach Buzz Williams and the 2022 Texas A&M Basketball squad will be well represented at the upcoming SEC Media Days set for October 18th & 19th, as the team is looking to finally break through the glass ceiling and make their first NCAA Tournament appearance under Williams after being wrongfully snubbed towards the end of the last season.

The Aggies are returning almost their entire 2021 roster, with the most obvious loss being guard Quenton Jackson, who along with guard Tyrece Radford and forward Henry Coleman helped lead the team to the SEC Tournament final, the NIT Final, and a 27-13 record, their most wins in program history.

Coincidentally, Tyrece Radford and Henry Coleman will serve as the team representatives alongside Buzz Williams, coming as no surprise as both will be counted on produce at a high rate this coming season.

For the Women, the team is entering their first season after Legendary head coach Gary Blair’s last season with the program, and new head coach Joni Taylor is slated to take the podium on opening day at 4:20 p.m CT. Announced on Wednesday morning, the player representatives will be forward, Aaliyah Patty and center, Sydnee Roby.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01fvdd4pnb49trk727 player_id=none image=https://aggieswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes, and opinions.
Follow Cameron on Twitter: @CameronOhnysty

[listicle id=6161]

Texas A&M’s Joni Taylor tabbed assistant coach of the 2022 USA women’s basketball national team

Aggie women’s basketball coach Joni Taylor named to Team USA coaching staff

USA Women’s Basketball recently announced the selection of Joni Taylor as a member of their staff, serving as an assistant coach for the 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup. Taylor will coach under head coach, Cheryl Reeve, head coach of the Minnesota Lynx, and work with two other assistant coaches – Mike Thibault, head coach of the Washington Mystics, and Kara Lawson, head coach of Duke University.

This will be coach Taylor’s fifth Team USA assignment to date, serving most recently as the head coach of the 2022 USA Women’s U18 National Team that won gold at the 2022 FIBA U18 Women’s Americas Championship. Taylor will look to earn a second gold medal within a four-month span.

The 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup will take place in Sydney, Australia from September 22nd to October 1st. For Team USA’s full schedule, click here.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01fvdd4pnb49trk727 player_id=none image=https://aggieswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Georgia women’s basketball officially hires new head coach

Welcome back to Athens Coach Abe!

Only a few days after Joni Taylor ended her 7-year tenure at UGA for a job at Texas A&M, the Lady Bulldogs have hired Katie Abrahamson-Henderson as their head coach.

Abrahamson-Henderson, affectionately known as Coach Abe, played two years for the Lady Bulldogs under Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame coach Andy Landers. She has returned to Athens after coaching at the University of Central Florida since 2016.

UCF had 5 consecutive losing seasons prior to Coach Abe’s arrival, and under her coaching prowess the program improved to a 89-40 record and made it to the NCAA tournament three times during her 6-year run.

When asked about getting the job, Coach Abe stated:

This is a dream come true. I am thrilled to return to Georgia as the head coach at one of the premier women’s basketball programs in the country.

In the 2021-22 season under Coach Taylor, the Lady Bulldogs went 20-8, and they finished 6th in the SEC.

Georgia women’s basketball coach Joni Taylor leaves for Texas A&M job

Taylor leaves Georgia with a 140-75 record in her seven years in Athens.

After seven seasons as Georgia’s head women’s basketball coach, Joni Taylor is leaving Athens to take the same job at Texas A&M.

In 2011, Taylor joined the Bulldogs’ staff as an assistant coach before being promoted to associate head coach the following year. When Andy Landers retired in 2015 after 36 years with the program, he advocated for Taylor to take his place as head coach. Taylor would served as head coach at Georgia from 2015-22.

“Joni Taylor informed me she has accepted the head coaching position at Texas A&M,” Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks said in a statement released by the school. “I want to personally thank Joni for being a great ambassador at the University of Georgia. From her Beyond Basketball group and involvement in many community organizations to her team’s successes on the court, her impact left a lasting impression on this program. We are forever grateful for the outstanding example of grace and humility she set for so many young women. I know these decisions are never easy, but we wish her, Darius, Jacie and Drew all the best on this new adventure.”

In seven seasons, Taylor led the Lady Bulldogs to four NCAA Tournament appearances.

Her decision comes on the heels of a 21-10 season for Taylor and the Bulldogs in 2021. Her team was eliminated in the second round of the tournament last week to Iowa.

Via Chip Towers at the AJC:

While terms have not yet been announced, Texas A&M is expected to increase Taylor’s compensation considerably. Taylor was just extended six years by UGA last year. Her new contract increased her salary $100,000 to $850,000 a year but increased incrementally to $925,000 in the final year, not including numerous performance bonuses.

Taylor leaves Georgia with a 140-75 record in her seven years in Athens.