Fred Taylor (basketball coach)

Fred R. Taylor (December 3, 1924 in Zanesville, Ohio, United States – January 6, 2002 in Columbus, Ohio) was a college men's basketball coach for The Ohio State University from 1959 to 1976.

College career

After graduating from Lash High School in Zanesville in 1943, Taylor entered the United States Army Air Forces where he served from 1943 to 1946. Despite never having played high school basketball he became an outstanding player at Ohio State and was the starting forward on the 1950 Big Ten Conference championship basketball team. In addition he won All-American honors in baseball.His number 27 is now retired at Ohio State

Coaching career

After briefly playing professional baseball for the Washington Senators from 1950-1952, Taylor returned to Ohio State as assistant basketball coach in 1958, becoming head coach the following year.

During his 18 years at Ohio State, the Buckeyes won the 1960 NCAA championship, were finalists in 1961 and 1962 and claimed a third place finish in 1968. The last time he coached the Buckeyes to an NCAA tournament appearance was in 1971, where OSU upset previously unbeaten Marquette in the Mideast regional semifinal round. However, Western Kentucky beat OSU in the Mideast regional round to advance to the Final Four. In his five NCAA tournament appearances, Taylor's teams went 14-4 and also won or shared seven Big Ten titles.

Taylor finished his career with an overall record of 297-158 and was named Coach of the Year by the USBWA and UPI in 1961 and 1962. A talented recruiter, Taylor coached six All-Americans as well as Hall of Famers Jerry Lucas, John Havlicek and Bobby Knight.

Taylor served as President of the National Association of Basketball Coaches in 1972, was a member of the U.S. Olympic Basketball Committee from 1964 to 1972

Retirement

After retiring from coaching in 1976, Taylor managed the U.S. National Team in the 1978 FIBA World Championships and the 1979 Pan American Games. In addition, Taylor managed a golf course not far from Columbus for several years.

On May 6, 1986 Taylor was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame, having previously been selected to the Ohio State Hall of Fame.

External links

* [http://www.historicbaseball.com/players/t/taylor_fred.html Taylor's Baseball Reference page]
* [http://www.hoophall.com/halloffamers/bhof-fred-taylor.html Taylor's Basketball Hall of Fame page]
* [http://nabc.collegesports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/010602aaa.html 2002 Sports Illustrated Obituary]