It’s the end of an era. Men’s Basketball Coach Scott Taylor is leaving Myers Park and taking a new position at Ambassador Christian School. Taylor is one of the most successful coaches in the history of Myers Park, piecing together one of the greatest runs of any team in Myers Park history. Coach Taylor created and led many teams, filled to the brim with outstanding talent, to multiple deep playoff runs and the schools first ever 4A State Championship. He is also an outstanding part of our school community, appreciated by everyone for his hard work and dedication to developing the program. His efforts led to the team consistently being ranked as one of the best public schools in the country and elevated the program’s attention significantly on a national scale. Coach Taylor’s impact will be felt and remembered for years to come because of his hard work and dedication.
Coach Taylor had a record win percentage of 70% at Myers Park going 145-63 over his eight years at MPHS. He was also 16-6 in the playoffs, winning the state championship once and gathering four elite eight appearances. In his tenure, he had seven straight winning seasons each with a playoff appearance. Taylor led the Mustangs to two SoMeck 4A conference titles and won the conference tournament twice His teams were often some of the best in the state, if not in the country with the team having two top twenty-five finishes in the MaxPreps national rankings. The team also competed and won multiple tournaments during his career, most recently winning the John Wall Invitational for the first time this past winter.
While Coach Taylor was successful in terms of team performance, he also was an excellent developer of talent. His teams were constantly successful, with him coaching many outstanding players. Over the course of his career, he coached 12 College players with five of them going to play in Division 1. He coached many top prospects including Sir Mohammed, Bishop Boswell, Elijah Strong, and Sadiq White. Coach Taylor also coached Duwe Farris and Drake Maye who both went on to play at North Carolina in Basketball and Football respectively. Maye was recently drafted by the New England Patriots. Even though many of these great players never got to play together, they were all unified by Coach Taylor’s culture of #FamilyHood, with players like Maye and Farris sending messages to the team from college as a way to help encourage and support them in their playoff runs.
Coach Taylor will become the Head Coach and Dean of Students at Ambassador Christian Academy, which is a private school that will be opening its doors for the first time this fall. The team is focused on playing a competitive regional schedule with multiple tournaments already scheduled for the team with more to be announced. Coach Taylor will look to continue to provide college-level development in collaboration with the Joe Gibbs Human Performance Institute for cutting-edge sports performance training. The team also looks to become a premiere destination for the development of college coaches. Assistant Coach Nick Jones will also be going to Ambassador to coach under Taylor.
Coach Taylor will be missed next year here at the Park as he leaves behind his legacy of success. He was a staple of the Men’s Basketball Program for eight years and had an expansive era of success for the Mustangs, guiding us to our first State Championship in 2023. Coach Taylor was one of the greatest to do it at Myers Park and will be missed greatly for all that he has done for our school and program. His legacy will always be about how he did so much for this school and how he was the first to win our school a state title. We wish Coach Taylor the best of luck and congratulations for all of his hard work and accomplishments.