Benjy Taylor led the Chicago State men’s basketball team to new heights in its Division I era during his second season as head coach that includes winning 30 games over his first two seasons at the helm. He guided the Cougars to achieve their first winning season in 23 years with a 19-13 season ledger, posted a 10-2 mark against Independent opponents and finished with an 11-3 home record at the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center.
For his efforts, Taylor was rewarded with Coach of the Year honors from the NCAA Division I Independents and the Heritage Sports Radio Network (HSRN) at the end of the season.
In addition, Coach Taylor’s squad has ranked third nationally in scoring with 84 points a game and fourth in steals with an average of 10 thefts per contest. He has tutored senior guard David Holston to an NCAA Division I-leading 4.6 made three-pointer per game (147 total threes) in addition to ranking fourth in scoring and steals, and 11th in assists. He also guided Holston and fellow classmate John Cantrell to capture four combined Great West Conference Player of the Week awards, while Holston, Cantrell and Carl Montgomery captured All-Independent honors following the season with Holston being named Independent Player of the Year.
When Taylor took the helm as head coach of the Chicago State basketball program, he inherited a 9-20 team from 2006-07 that only returned four players. Taylor assembled an outstanding coaching staff and on the recruiting trail they went. That trail led him to recruit ten outstanding student-athletes, which included Montgomery.
In his first season, Taylor not only improved the team’s win-loss record, finishing 11-17, but he also improved the overall image of the Chicago State basketball program. Taylor coached the Cougars to an Independent-leading RPI of 211 and received Independent Coach of the Year consideration. His first-year résumé included key wins over Big West Conference-leading Cal State Northridge, Eastern Michigan, Independent-leading Texas-Pan American, and Utah Valley.
Several of Taylor’s players received All-Independent accolades last season. Holston was runner-up for Independent Player of the Year honors after averaging 23.1 points per game, good for 10th nationally, and 5.1 assists per contesr. He also led the nation in three-point field goals made with 130. Cantrell also had a stellar junior campaign earning him All-Independent second team honors after averaging 15.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. Center Chidozie Chukwumah was a force in the middle earning All-Independent honorable mention and was a finalist for Independent Defensive Player of the Year accolades after averaging 2.4 blocks per game which ranked him 24th nationally.
Before coming to Chicago State, Taylor spent two seasons as an assistant coach on Dave Dickerson’s Tulane University’s staff. In his final season at Tulane, Taylor helped the Green Wave compile a 17-13 overall record, including a top division finish (fourth) and a berth in the Conference USA tournament semifinals after defeating Tulsa, this only one full season removed from the devastating after-effects of Hurricane Katrina. During his only other season at Tulane, he helped guide the Green Wave to a 12-17 overall record, a sixth-place finish in league play and a quarterfinal victory over Marshall in the opening round of the 2006 Conference USA tourney.
Taylor is no stranger to the Chicago area having served as the head coach and assistant director of athletics at NCAA Division III North Central College in west suburban Naperville, Ill., from 2001-04. In addition, Taylor was the associate head coach at Northern Illinois from 1995-2000, helping the Huskies reach the NCAA Tournament in 1996 after posting a 20-10 record. In between Tulane and North Central, Taylor was an assistant coach at Indiana State during the 2004-05 season. He also served as an assistant coach at Pepperdine during the 2000-01 campaign.
As a player, Taylor was a four-year letterwinner with the University of Richmond (1985-89). His teams registered an 85-38 (.691) record during his career with two NCAA Tournament appearances (1986, 1988) and one bid to the NIT (1989). The 1988 Spider team advanced to the Sweet Sixteen, dispatching Indiana and Georgia Tech in the NCAA Tournament. After earning his bachelor’s degree with a double major in criminal justice and sociology, he remained with the Spiders as a graduate assistant coach, earning a master’s degree in sports management. During his two years as a graduate assistant coach at Richmond, he helped his alma mater to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments. In the first round of the 1991 NCAA Tourney, Richmond upset Syracuse, the first time a fifteen-seed defeated a two-seed in NCAA tournament history.
After Richmond, Taylor was an assistant coach at Cornell for one year during the 1991-92 season and he went from Cornell to The Citadel from 1992-95 as an assistant coach.
A native of Jacksonville, N.C., Taylor is a member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches as well as the Black Coaches Association. He has three sons: Tyler (19), Otto III (9) and Ostin (6), and a daughter, Olive (1).
