Denise Taylor (born 1962 or 1963) is a former college and WNBA basketball coach. After completing assistant coach positions through the 1980s and 1990s, Taylor began her head coaching career with

American International College American International College (AIC) is a private college in Springfield, Massachusetts. History American International College was originally established on July 18, 1885, as the French Protestant College by Rev. Calvin E. Amaron, who sough ...

from 1991 to 1993. After coaching for

Northeastern Illinois University Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) is a public university in Chicago, Illinois. NEIU serves approximately 9,000 students in the region and is a Hispanic-serving institution. The main campus is located in the community area of North Park wi ...

from 1993 to 1997, Taylor became the first ever

Utah Starzz Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its we ...

head coach in the WNBA. After her WNBA position ended in 1998, Taylor returned to collegiate sports as the head coach for the Jackson State Lady Tigers basketball team in 2001. With the Lady Tigers until 2011, Taylor won the 2008 SWAC women's basketball tournament while amassing 153 wins and 143 losses.

Early life and education

In the early 1960s, Taylor was born in

Cleveland, Mississippi Cleveland is a city in Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 11,199 as of the 2020 United States Census. Cleveland has a large commercial economy, with numerous restaurants, stores, and services along U.S. 61. Clevelan ...

. For her post-secondary education, Taylor played basketball at

Texas Southern University Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a public historically black university in Houston, Texas. The university is one of the largest and most comprehensive historically black college or universities in the USA with nearly 10,000 ...

during the early 1980s and received degrees in healthcare.

Career

Taylor began her coaching career as an assistant coach for TSU from 1986 to 1987 and

Lamar University Lamar University (Lamar or LU) is a public university in Beaumont, Texas. Lamar has been a member of the Texas State University System since 1995. It was the flagship institution of the former Lamar University System. As of the fall of 2021, th ...

between 1987 and 1991. After moving to

in 1991, Taylor had 32 wins and 23 losses as their head coach before she was hired by

in 1993. Taylor had 61 wins and 48 losses as the head coach for Northeastern Illinois before her position ended in 1997. In 1997, Taylor was selected to become the first

head coach in the WNBA. With the Starzz, Taylor had 13 wins and 34 losses before she was replaced by

Frank Layden Francis Layden (born January 5, 1932) is an American former basketball coach and executive of the National Basketball Association's Utah Jazz as well as former head coach of the Women's National Basketball Association's Utah Starzz. Coaching car ...

in 1998. In 2001, Taylor returned to coaching when she was hired by

Jackson State University Jackson State University (Jackson State or JSU) is a public historically black research university in Jackson, Mississippi. It is one of the largest HBCUs in the United States and the fourth largest university in Mississippi in terms of studen ...

to coach their women's basketball team. While with the Jackson State Lady Tigers basketball team, Taylor won the 2008 SWAC women's basketball tournament after winning the SWAC regular season championships in 2003, 2006 and 2007. Taylor amassed 153 wins and 143 losses with the Lady Tigers before she was fired in 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Denise American International College people Las Vegas Aces coaches Living people People from Cleveland, Mississippi Basketball coaches from Mississippi Texas Southern Tigers women's basketball players Utah Starzz coaches Year of birth missing (living people) Northeastern Illinois Golden Eagles Jackson State Lady Tigers basketball coaches