How Texas A&M Coach Joni Taylor Has Turned Program Around

A fresh start to a new season.

Lauren Ware, Janae Kent and Vanessa Saidu are back.

Other than that, head coach Joni Taylor has begun revitalizing her program in the offseason after missing out on a ticket to the Women’s NCAA Tournament last season and recently spoke to the media about what’s ahead.

“I’m excited about the group we’ve put together,” Taylor said. “Obviously, it’s too early to tell anything right now. What I can tell you is they are highly competitive. They’ve came in ready to work. They are in great shape. Their pace, their intentionality is all things we are excited about. I like what I see, I like what I hear.”

Success Recruiting Players

Lauren Ware playing defense against South Carolina — Jan 9, 2025; Columbia, South Carolina, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks forward Sania Feagin (20) drives around Texas A&M Aggies forward Lauren Ware (32) in the first half at Colonial Life Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-Imagn Images | Jeff Blake-Imagn Images

A mix of the transfer portal and international scouting for basketball players was a massive area of emphasis for Taylor’s program in building a newly developed roster.

For years, Taylor said that as a coaching staff, they haven't been as intentional about recruiting internationally, so that became a priority over the offseason.

“Once we decided to go that route, we decided to just spend a ton of time in that process, and so we spent time overseas — excluding my time with USA basketball — and were able to identify some really talented players,” Taylor said. “It’s a mix of players that were already here and two players that we went overseas and got.”

Joni gave credit to Darius Taylor, Joni’s husband, who is now on the coaching staff and had a relationship with agents that solidified a player on the roster. Another important aspect of the locker room was finding ways to bond, and AirPods were a way to joke around about the team's diversity.

“We’re gonna get those new AirPods that are out that you can automatically live translate everything,” Taylor said. “They’ve done an excellent job. We’re the ones that have to get caught up.”

Players like Lemyah Hilton, who is from Canada but speaks fluent French, along with Anita Franchini and Pien Steenbergen, who speak Dutch and a little Italian, enhance the team chemistry.

“We’ve got 12 new players, and so there is a different energy,” Taylor said. “There’s a different excitement. They are all ready to come in and compete and to play for the 12th Man.”

Defensive Fundamentals

Exciting.

That’s the word Joni used in describing how thrilled she is to focus on the defensive aspect of the game, considering she is a defensive-minded coach.

“We didn’t spend a ton of time doing things defensively this summer,” Taylor said. “One of the things I’ve always told our team is listen — I’ll make a deal with you — We won’t do anything defensively over the summer if once practice starts, you go all out.”

Wednesday was the first day that Taylor got to analyze her team in practice in defensive drills. As she iterated, there isn’t as much focus on defense because she feels that there is an automatic instinct that comes with playing defense, and they naturally pick it up.

“There’s some things that you are going to go let them free reign to do because of their gift and their ability on that side of the floor,” Taylor said.