Joni Taylor's 'Gary Blair Story' Features Ice Cold Water
Everyone has a Gary Blair story. New Texas A&M women’s basketball coach Joni Taylor has hers.
It has nothing to do with basketball, though. It has to do with ice cold water.
Taylor’s introductory press conference in College Station on Thursday took a few detours to Blair, the legend that Taylor is replacing after his retirement.
Back in 2014, Taylor was the associate head coach at Georgia working under another coaching legend in Andy Landers. That was the year of the Ice Bucket Challenge, the fund-raising effort for ALS that swept the nation that summer. The concept was simple — film yourself being soaked by an ice bucket of water and then challenge someone else to do it.
Taylor had just been challenged. She said she’s not one to shy away from a challenge. But she was also wondering if she should do it. After all, she wasn’t a head coach at the time, and in the college game it was mostly head coaches that were accepting the challenge.
While contemplating her decision, Taylor found her way on social media, and stumbled upon Blair.
“I saw Gary Blair and he stood there and he got, I think it was two buckets of water, cold water dumped on him and he took it like a champ,” Taylor said. “And I said, ‘Well, that's him leading the way once again.’”
That was all the incentive that Taylor needed to accept the challenge.
“I don't know if that's what he wanted to do or not, but he's all in and he is all in for whatever the cause is, whatever the movement is,” Taylor said. “And for him to stand there and do that, it honestly gave me the courage to go ahead and do it.”
Taylor comes to Texas A&M after a 2021-22 season in which her Lady Bulldogs won 20 games before falling to Iowa State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Taylor went 140-75 at Georgia, leading it to four NCAA Tournament appearances.
She’s an SEC product, who played her college basketball at Alabama and was an assistant coach at LSU and Alabama before arriving to work for Landers at Georgia.
Between working for and replacing Landers, and replacing Blair, Taylor is connected to two coaches who have won more than 1,500 college games combined. She knows what makes Blair, and A&M, a special job.
“This is about women's basketball and making sure that Texas A&M women's basketball is in the best position possible,” Taylor said. “And so I know that's the same goal that coach Blair had and still has. And that is what I've continued to learn from watching great mentors and coaches like coach Landers and coach Blair, who operate in the spirit of what's best for the sport.”
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