VANESSA TAYLOR NAMED 2011 CIAA COACH OF THE YEAR

Third time winning the award in her career

Charlotte, NC – Johnson C. Smith University head women’s basketball coach Vanessa Taylor has been awarded as the CIAA Coach of the Year by the CIAA Executive Committee Members. Coach Taylor received the honor at the 2010-11 CIAA Regular Season Awards held at the Charlotte Convention Center on Monday, February, 27^th.

L-R: VSU Athletics Director Peggy Davis, Coach Vanessa Taylor, FSU SWA Peggy Green

The JCSU women’s basketball program was also presented with the 2010-11 CIAA Southern Division regular season championship during the ceremony. The Lady Golden Bulls finished the regular season 22-3 overall, 14-3 in the CIAA, and 8-2 in the Southern. JCSU is ranked No. 24 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll (as of the last release) and No. 5 in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region (best overall record of teams ranked).

The 22-victories this season eclipses the 21-10 mark Coach Taylor set at JCSU during the 2007-08 season. It also matches her most wins in a season for her career. Taylor led Elizabeth City State to a 22-5 record during the 1999-2000 season. She won CIAA Coach of the Year in 1997 and 1999, while at ECSU.

Taylor adds a third Coach of the Year honor to her resume, which includes a CIAA Tournament Championship (2009), a fifth season of at least 20 wins, third divisional title, and her third appearance the NCAA regional tournament. She is currently 272-198 in her 17^th season as a head coach and 189-103 in her 10^th season at JCSU.

Taylor is a native of Moultrie, Georgia and a graduate of Tuskegee University (Class of ’91). Taylor was inducted into the Colquitt County High School Hall of Fame on October 6, 2005. She was one of 17 people inducted in her hometown of Moultrie, GA. 

“This is definitely a blessing from God to win this award, aside from thank him; I’d like to thank my coaching staff and team, the administration at Johnson C. Smith University starting with our president Dr. Ronald Carter and our Director of Athletics, Stephen Joyner for all their support,” said Taylor. “It’s nice to know that your work hard has been acknowledged, but like I tell my team, you can’t afford to look back because you’ll miss new blessings in front of you. We’ve had a great season thus far and we plan to keep working as a team to move forward.”

The Lady Golden Bulls captured the 2011 CIAA Southern Division crown and a first round bye in the CIAA Tournament. They will begin play in the CIAA Quarterfinals on Tuesday, March 1st at 9:00pm versus the winner of the first round matchup between Chowan University and Livingstone College.