New faces at PJC men’s basketball program

Published or Revised January 07, 2016

Robert “Bobby” Taylor is starting as Paris Junior College’s men’s basketball coach on Thursday, Jan. 8, replacing Coach Bilal Batley. Taylor comes to PJC after having served as assistant coach of the men’s basketball team at Texas A&M University - Commerce since 2011. Taylor served as assistant coach of the men’s basketball team in 1996-98, working under former coach Bill Foy. While at PJC he recruited and coached DeJuan Brown, who was named the 2001 NAIA National Player of the Year. At TAMU-C Taylor helped lead the Lions to a 24-8 overall record during the 2014-15 season, as well as winning the 2014-15 LSC Tournament Championship and appearing in the NCAA Tournament. In the last two seasons the Lions had a 43-17 overall record. Taylor developed two players currently affiliated with the NBA: Devondrick Walker with the San Antonio Spurs and Darrell Williams with the Chicago Bulls. Williams was the 2015 LSC Player of the Year, LSC Newcomer of the Year, First Team All-LSC, NCAA South Central Region Player of the Year, NCAA First Team All-South Central Region, NCAA First Team All-American and TABC Small College Player of the Year. In addition to Williams, he coached seven other All-LSC performers, including former PJC players Desmond King (2012) and LaDon Carnegie (2014-15), as well as Brad Hambrick (2012), Preston Whitley (2013), Devondrick Walker (2014), Christian Macauley who was Defensive Player of the Year (2014-15), and DeAndre Carson who was Freshman of the Year (2014). King and Andrew Davis were named Capital One Academic All-American, King was First Team in 2012 and Davis was Third Team in 2012 and First Team in 2013, as well as LSC Academic Player of the Year in 2012 and 2013. Devondrick Walker was named to the 2014 LSC All-Academic Team. Davis and Walker also were named to the NABC Honors Court in 2013. Prior to coaching in Commerce, Taylor was assistant coach in the Arena Football League with the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz. Three of the players he coached there went on to sign contracts with either the National Football League or the Canadian Football League. He also aided the Yard Dawgz in reaching the 2009 playoffs. Before that, Taylor served as an assistant coach at Neosho County Community College, helping lead the Panthers to a 10-win improvement and coaching two Jayhawk Eastern Conference Players of the Year. From 2006-07, Taylor served as Director of Player Personnel for the Arena Football League’s Grand Rapids Rampage. Prior to that he was assistant coach at Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi from 2000-02. Taylor also spent three seasons at Grand Valley State, coaching the GVSU and GLIAC all-time leading scorer John Flynn. He started his coaching career at Cowley County Community College in Kansas. Mike Scott joins the Paris Junior College's men's basketball team as assistant coach midway through the 2015-2016 season, coming to PJC from Texas A&M International University, where he served as assistant coach. The experience he brings to PJC includes playing NCAA Division I and overseas basketball. Scott served as assistant men's basketball coach at Wayland Baptist University prior to joining TAMIU. Beginning in 2013 he helped to rebuild the Pioneers; the team won 23 contests during his first year and 27 in the second. The team made two national tournament appearances, as well as achieving the university's first SAC Tournament Championship. In the 2012-13 academic year, he helped coach at Fairleigh Dickinson, graduating there in 2011 with a degree in media communications; currently he is pursuing his master's degree in that field. Scott had the opportunity to play in a professional league in Dortmund, Germany. After the 2011 season ended, he headed back to the United States to become an assistant coach at Midland College for the spring semester. During that time, he sent seven players to the Division I level. While a student at Fairleigh Dickinson, Scott played two seasons at the NCAA Division I school in Teaneck, N.J.; a member of the Northeast Conference. Prior to his senior season, Scott was named to the pre-season all-conference team. He averaged 13.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game over his two-year career for the Knights. As a freshman Scott attended Texas Christian University, playing in 29 games, averaging 3.3 points and 2.4 assists per game. Transferring to the College of Eastern Utah as a sophomore, he helped the Golden Eagles to a 25-7 record, including a 14-game winning streak. Averaging 8.5 points and 4.6 assists per game, Scott earned honorable mention all-conference honors. Prior to TCU, Scott worked construction and attended the Franklin Learning Center in Philadelphia, graduating in 2004. In his senior season, Scott was the MVP of the Public League, the All-City Classic all-star game and the All-Star Labor Classic. He holds the record for most assists in a game at Franklin Learning Center with 17. During his coaching career, Scott is proud to have recruited two All-American and six All-Conference players. He has also coached and trained four NBA players and seven overseas players.