On February 1st, Coach Taylor of Taft’s basketball team achieved his 500th win in his career during the Boys Basketball game against Birmingham held on campus.

The game against Birmingham was tightly contested, with both teams tied at 32-32 in the first half. Neither team was able to get ahead of the other. The largest lead Birmingham had over Taft was 6 points. At the end of the game, Birmingham missed a free throw, and Taft won the game.

Derrick Taylor has many roles at Taft, from being a BSAP counselor to a basketball coach with over 30 years of experience. His long-time experience with supporting students makes him well-known among the Taft community and allows him to guide his teams to success.

Coach Taylor describes the start of his career as an accident. During the summer of 1987, Taylor filled in for a coach in a league game. He enjoyed his time there and has been coaching ever since.

“To beat the team that we previously had lost to and to get him to that milestone made the win so much better.” said Mr. Randolph, the varsity coach.

When asked about how he felt about achieving 500 wins, Coach Taylor said he felt lucky to have reached this milestone and that he was fortunate to have amazing teams throughout his years of coaching.

“Honestly, it was more important to me beating Birmingham to win the league title. I didn’t really think about the 500th win. I mean, it’s nice, you know, but I wanted to win the game more for the league championship,” Coach Taylor said.

Coach Taylor says his leadership comes from his experience and from trying to empower his students. Being a coach for so long taught him that he can achieve things other people think are unachievable through practice and persistence. His next goal is to win the city title.