LATEST HEADLINES

Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Bye, Bye Billy
(originally posted at last night at 11:46 p.m.)
Billy Taylor is leaving Lehigh to take the Ball State job.

Taylor will be introduced as Ball State's new man in a press conference Wednesday morning, according to a release on the Ball State Web site.

According to a Fox Sports report posted early this evening, Taylor became the front runner for the job after IUPUI's ROn Hunter withdrew from consideration. Earlier reports indicated Hunter had been offered the job, but Ball State AD denied offering the job to Hunter and interviewed Taylor Monday night in Indianapolis.

Taylor will replace Ronny Thompson, who resigned last month in the wake of reports of possible NCAA rules violations. According to AP, Thompson, son of legendary Georgetown coach John Thompson and brother of the Hoyas current coach by the same name, has made claims that he faced a hostile racial environment.

The AP reports Hunter, who is also African American, was aware of Thompson's racial bias claims, but said that was not why he withdrew. Hunter said his decision was due to concerns about NCAA sanctions the program might face.

The first African American coach in any sport at Lehigh, Taylor went 68-82 record in five seasons at Lehigh, including a Patriot League championship in 2004. Ball State and the AP erroneously listed Taylor's record at Lehigh as 81-69. That is because Lehigh lists Taylor's 2004-05 record as 14-15 with an asterisk, instead o listing the 1-28 mark the Mountain Hawks ended up with after having to forfeit all but one win due to Joe Knight's ineligibility.

While it has long been a forgone conclusion Taylor would leave Lehigh sooner or later (Taylor interviewed for several jobs in recent years, including this one when Thompson was hired), the timing of his move is particularly difficult for the Mountain Hawks. In addition to being just three months before the start of practice for the 2007-08 season, Taylor is leaving just as the final push for early commitments for next year's recruits is about to begin.

Lehigh AD Joe Sterrett commented on Taylor's timing in a release posted on Lehigh's site, saying:
“I would like to thank Billy Taylor for his dedication to Lehigh during his time here and for the job he did with our men’s basketball program. Unfortunately, I think the timing of this is less than ideal. I hope this move turns out to be the right one for Billy.”
Lehigh has already removed Taylor's bio from its site.

Labels:

Published at 7:46 AM by Hoop Time.
Help Hoop Time