Vanessa Taylor, who has over 23 years of collegiate head coaching experience, joined the Coastal Carolina women's basketball staff as an assistant coach on May 17, 2017. She was quickly promoted to associate head coach prior to the 2018-19 season.
In her three seasons at Coastal Carolina, Taylor has helped build the Coastal Carolina program into a Sun Belt Conference contender and lead the Chanticleers to consecutive historic seasons over the last two years.
The 2019-20 season ended with a program-record 25 victories with an overall record of 25-4 and a Sun Belt record of 15-3. The Chanticleers had the Sun Belt’s leading scorer in senior DJ Williams, who was also the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and first-team All-Sun Belt. Naheria Hamilton was named the Sun Belt’s Defensive Player of the Year and second-team All-Sun Belt. Sophomore Aja Blount was also named second-team All-Sun Belt. As a team, the Chants were second in the Sun Belt in scoring (78.2 ppg) and defense (61.7 ppg) and ranked tops in the conference with a +16.52 scoring margin. Coastal Carolina led the Sun Belt Conference in four team statistical categories and ranked second in nine other categories.
In Taylor’s second season at Coastal, the 2018-19 team made the program’s first-ever postseason appearance after accepting an invitation to play in the 2019 Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI). Coastal also reached the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Championship for the second-straight season after hosting its first-ever Sun Belt Championship Tournament game at the HTC Center, a 63-49 win over ninth-seeded Arkansas State.
In 2017-18, Taylor joined the Chanticleer staff and helped lead the squad to a 17-14 overall record. Coastal also won 10 of 18 Sun Belt Conference games to finish seventh in the league and won the program's first Sun Belt Championship game as the Chants defeated Georgia State 74-55 in the first round of the 2018 conference tournament in New Orleans, La.
Before her arrival at Coastal Carolina, Taylor served as the head coach at North Carolina Central from 2012-17. In her five seasons there, Taylor coached guard Morgan Jones, who reached 1,000 career points as a senior in 2016-17 and was named first-team All-State by the North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association (NCCSIA). Taylor also guided Racquel Davis, Tisha Dixon, and Amber Neely to All-MEAC honors.Â
Prior to taking over the program at NCCU, Taylor spent 11 seasons as the head coach at Johnson C. Smith University where she finished with a 215-112 (.657) overall record. In 2010-11, Taylor led the Golden Bulls to a 26-5 overall record -- the best in school history -- and was voted the CIAA Coach of the Year. Taylor also captured the CIAA tournament championship in 2008-09 and CIAA Western Division championship in 2005-06. In her 11 seasons with the Golden Bulls, Taylor won 20 or more games five times and won 19 games in both the 2001-02 and 2004-05 campaigns.Â
The Golden Bulls reached the NCAA Division II tournament five times under Taylor (2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2012).Â
Taylor's first head coaching experience was at Elizabeth City State University from 1994-2001. She was voted the CIAA Coach of the Year in 1997-98 and again in 1999-2000 after leading the Lady Vikings to the CIAA East Division championship with a 22-5 overall record -- the best record during her tenure at ECSU.
