Elon Has A New Head Coach! His Name Is Billy Taylor! He Is Replacing Mike Schrage Who Was Elon's Head Coach Who Returned To Duke Who Is Special Assistant To Head Coach Jon Scheyer
Elon has a new Head Coach!
His name is Billy Taylor!
Director of Athletics Dave Blank named him the 19th Head Coach of the Men’s Basketball Program because he has 14 years of head coaching experience, including 11 at the NCAA Division I level, Taylor brings experience and knowledge to the sideline. He has been a part of teams, either as head coach or on staff, that have advanced to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament seven times.
Billy Taylor spent five years as head coach at Lehigh University followed by six seasons as the head coach at Ball State University and three at Belmont Abbey College. He comes to Elon after spending three years as an assistant coach at the University of Iowa, his second stint with the Hawkeyes.
Billy Taylor is a two-time Patriot League Coach of the Year (2003, 2004), because he led Lehigh to both the regular season and tournament titles in 2004, earning a bid to the NCAA Tournament that season. He also guided Ball State to the 2009 MAC West Division crown. He has 24 years of coaching experience, starting as an assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of Notre Dame, in 1998.
Over the last three seasons, Billy Taylor was an Assistant Coach for Iowa! Iowa has been a mainstay in the national rankings and NCAA Tournament, winning the 2022 Big Ten Tournament championship. The team won 26 games in 2022, the second-highest single-season win total in program history. During his time at the university, Iowa was led by two-time national player of the year Luke Garza along with Keegan Murray, a finalist for the Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy.
With Taylor on the sidelines, Iowa was one of the top offensive teams in the country, ranking fifth nationally in scoring average in both 2021 (83.7) and 2022 (83.2). The program also led the country in assist-to-turnover ratio in both seasons.
Dave Blank had this to say about hiring Billy Taylor as Elon’s Men’s Basketball Head Coach!
"I want to welcome Billy, his wife, Avlon, and his three children, Tamia, Gavielle and Savion, to Elon," Blank said. "Billy's background impressed everyone involved in our search, including his head coaching experience, his NCAA Tournament experience, and his time spent in the region. We are confident that he is a great fit for the student-athletes on our current team and we look forward to his leadership in our program, our department, and on our campus."
He is replacing Mike Schrage who was Elon’s Head Coach who returned to Duke who is Special Assistant to Head Coach Jon Scheyer.
As the Head Coach of Elon,
Mike Schrage went 33-52 at Elon, leading Elon to the CAA championship game in 2021. Elon defeated Towson, top-seeded James Madison and Hofstra over the course of three consecutive days. The Phoenix eventually lost to Drexel 63-56 in the finals.Elon went 10-22 during the 2021-22 season, playing three teams that advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament – Duke, North Carolina and Arkansas. The Phoenix also played Florida, West Virginia and Ole Miss during a non-conference campaign rated as the 12th- most difficult in the country by KenPom.com.
“according to Mike Schrange’s biography on goduke.com”
Mike Schrage is a familiar face to Duke fans, spectators because he been on the Duke staff before.
From 1999-2008 he was on Mike Krzyzewski’s coaching staff. He was the teams academic, recruiting coordinator from 1999 -2008. Then he was the director of basketball operations from 2002 -2008.
“according Stephen Wiseman’s article on newsobserver.com”
Mike Schrage had this to say about joining Jon Scheyer’s coaching staff at Duke!
"I loved being a head coach and especially at Elon, but this was an opportunity I felt I could not pass up," said Schrage. "I am honored to be back at Duke starting this new chapter with Jon Scheyer. My experience previously with Coach K not only shaped my career in this profession but my entire life. I have believed in Jon to the fullest since I was fortunate enough to be on staff when he played. I could not be more excited to help him build on Duke's incredible tradition of excellence while putting his own stamp on the program too."
Head Coach Jon Scheyer had this to say about the addition of Mike Schrage to the Duke Men’s Basketball Coaching Staff!
Having learned from some of the best coaches in the game before taking on a head coaching role himself, Mike brings an unparalleled breadth of knowledge to our staff," said Scheyer. "I've been lucky to know and trust Mike implicitly since my playing days when he was Duke's director of basketball operations. He will have an immediate impact on our team strategy and organization. We are excited for him, his wife Amanda, and his family to return to Durham."
“according to an article on goduke.com”