Hawaii men’s basketball: Former coach Benjy Taylor lands a head job
Former Hawaii interim head coach Benjy Taylor has been tapped to lead a college basketball program once again.
Taylor, who headed up the Rainbow Warriors for the 2014-15 season in the wake of Gib Arnold’s firing (and took the ‘Bows within one game of making the NCAA Tournament), has been named the new head coach at Tuskegee University, according to Hoopdirt’s Adam Nelson.
CSU Bakersfield Assistant Benjy Taylor to be named head coach at D2 Tuskegee. Was former head coach at Chicago State and Interim Head Coach at Hawaii.
— Adam Nelson (@HD_DirtKing) August 14, 2019
Taylor responded positively to feedback from the tweet. (And, it should be noted, changed his Twitter handle from @benjyrunners to @benjytuskegee.)
Thank you so much Bridgett. Women of TeamBelieve stand up! 😍😍😍. Ma Barnes I miss our Sunday Morning 10 am Meetings. 🙏🏿. Love you guys and keep my main man Covered Up. Have Fun. https://t.co/GdrBQ46Bcm
— Benjy Taylor (@benjytuskegee) August 15, 2019
Taylor was on Rod Barnes’ staff at Cal State Bakersfield for the last few years after a brief stint at Southeast Missouri State. CSUB reached the final four of the NIT in the 2016-17 season.
UPDATE: Taylor gave Hawaii a shout-out as he prepared to begin his new job.
Mahalo to all in the 808. You toughened me up and made me better and I’m ready for this! Forever Ohana the people of Hawaii. 🤙🏾 14-15 Squad will always be remembered. #ostin and #olive #otto 3 of the best to ever do it. Lol. 🙏🏿 https://t.co/yE3LgSuS3I
— Benjy Taylor (@benjytuskegee) August 15, 2019
Sadly, Taylor is leaving the Roadrunners a season before they join the Big West Conference and play at Hawaii on a regular basis starting in 2020-21.
The Tuskegee Golden Tigers, located in Tuskegee, Ala., compete in NCAA Division II.
Taylor was the 20th head coach in UH program history. The talented Rainbows were 22-13 during his lone season, losing 67-58 to UC Irvine in the Big West title game. Under Taylor, and with everything still going on with the NCAA, things were certainly never boring. Stefan Jankovic, Roderick Bobbitt, Aaron Valdes and company showed flashes of what they would become the next season upon Eran Ganot’s arrival.
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Meanwhile, UH appeared to have officially bid associate head coach Adam Jacobsen farewell on Wednesday.
The Star-Advertiser previously reported that Jacobsen was all but officially gone and is a candidate for a similar position on the mainland. UH posted an opening for a new associate head coach on its jobs website.
With the 2019-20 season just around the corner, might Ganot look to his own staff to fill the opening? Assistants John Montgomery and Jabari Trotter could slide up a spot and Ganot could elevate Jesse Nakanishi, his very competent director of operations, into the third assistant position — especially since Dominic Drury was moved up to help Nakanishi in the DOBO role.
Aloha and mahalo @coachjacobsen for an incredible four seasons. You will always be part of the #HawaiiMBB ohana! 🤙🏾🤙🏾 pic.twitter.com/XAdboy0kWa
— HAWAII BASKETBALL (@HawaiiMBB) August 15, 2019
Congrats to Benjy
Outside of the NCAA tourney team, the year he was interim was probably the most entertaining team to watch in many many years.
Great news!
Okay, maybe some of the members of Benjy Taylor’s team were less than stellar in the classroom, but on the court, you know they were having fun. The energy and vibe was there. Congrats Coach Taylor.