Newberry College says farewell to Jason Taylor

NEWBERRY — The Newberry College faithful gathered on the second floor of Founders Credit Union Fieldhouse on May 29 at 6:00 p.m. to wish former men’s basketball head coach Jason Taylor a farewell as he leaves for a job with a Division I program. The room was filled with faithful Newberry basketball fans, members of the community, alumni, former players, Newberry College athletic staff and some Taylor’s family members.

Taylor will an assistant coach at Morehead State, located in Morehead, Ky., to Johnathan Mattox. Mattox will take over as head coach in the 2024-25 after spending nine seasons on staff as an assistant. He also played for Taylor when he was the head coach at Anderson University.

This will be the first time he work for one of his former players and he is excited about the opportunity.

“This will be a first but I am very humble that he[Mattox] called. He’s very sharp and always have been extremely intelligent with a very good basketball mind. He is a stud and is going to do extremely well,” said Taylor. “I am glad he asked me to be apart of it and my role with him will be to do whatever he needs me to do to help the program and him to be as successful as we can be.”

Taylor is leaving behind a 65-61 overall record and South Athletic Conference record of 52-46 during his five seasons. His 19-10 record in the 2022-23 basketball season was the best record and most wins for the program since the 2014-15 basketball season. Also, the Wolves went 12-6 in league play, hosted the first round game of the SAC tournament at home and finished second in the SAC Piedmont Division.

He spoke briefly about the memories and good people he will be leaving behind.

“Coach Mattox played for me and I am really humbled he made that call. The opportunity to get closer to family and home also played a major factor in me making this decision. I am going to miss this[speaking about the people in the room]. You sell all the people that’s here right now,” said Taylor. “Incredible community, love my players and I am going to miss them a ton. Honestly, real excited about the guy they are bringing in and I know that everything here is well take care of, They will be in good shape with Marcus Kirkland[new men’s basketball head coach].”

Kirkland and new women’s head coach Johnette Walker will be introduced to the Newberry College community on June 11 at 6:00 p.m. in the Founders Credit Union Fieldhouse.