Joni Taylor named SEC Coach of the Year during UGA basketball’s breakout season
Georgia’s women’s basketball program has crossed a number of milestones through this season: 1,000 wins, 100 wins for head coach Joni Taylor, the first road win at Tennessee since 1996 and sweep since 1985 and a handful of signature wins en route to potentially earning one of the NCAA tournament’s top seeds.
Each time, the Lady Bulldogs’ sixth-year leader deflects the praise. She gives the credit to legendary coach Andy Landers and the Georgia players who laid a foundation before the current group of Lady Bulldogs.
“We are onward, but we want to enjoy the moment,” Taylor said. “I don’t do that very well.”
On Tuesday morning, Taylor etched her own name into the Georgia women’s basketball history books.
She won the SEC Coach of the Year honor, voted on by fellow coaches, after an 18-5 regular season. It’s the first time Georgia has won the honor since Landers did so in the 1995-96 campaign (28-5, 11-1 SEC).
According to a copy of Taylor’s contract, obtained via an open records request, she earns a $50,000 bonus for winning the SEC Coach of the Year award.
“My heart is full,” Taylor said. “Something like this does not happen without our incredible staff and players. This award is for them. I’m truly grateful, humbled and honored to be the head coach at the University of Georgia.”
Taylor is a favorite among her coaching peers, but the race was tight between Texas A&M’s Gary Blair, South Carolina’s Dawn Staley and Tennessee’s Kellie Harper. Taylor won the award after a number of signature wins. The Lady Bulldogs are 5-1 in down-to-the-wire games, and three of those victories came against ranked teams — Arkansas and Tennessee (twice).
Georgia returned to prominence this year after missing the NCAA tournament in consecutive seasons and having a combined record of 35-26.
Taylor welcomed back four seniors — Gabby Connally, Que Morrison, Maya Caldwell and Jenna Staiti — and has started the same group in all 23 games of the shortened season. Georgia also boasted plenty of depth with the additions of UConn transfer Mikayla Coombs and freshman guard Sarah Ashlee Barker, both of whom have been vital for the team in late-game situations off of the bench.
Taylor also believes the program success breeds from the culture set into place. She is a life-first coach, focuses on her players’ success in other areas first and is an advocate for efforts around the Athens-Clarke County community. The approach, along with a tightly-knit group, results in a chemistry that leads Georgia to its on-court victories.
“Adjectives don’t do justice in describing the way I feel about J,” longtime Georgia assistant coach Robert Mosley said of Taylor. “She’s been someone that I can always depend on. Her loyalty and friendship has never wavered. She’s not envious or selfish. She genuinely cares about people and wants to see everyone she touches succeed. Basketball brought us together but we’ll be friends long after the ball stops bouncing.”
Three other Georgia players also won honors for their performances throughout the 2020-21 season.
Morrison, the do-it-all guard who is known for her defensive presence, won co-Defensive Player of the Year honors. Morrison averaged five rebounds and two steals per game, but her influence is felt beyond the stat sheet. The Lady Bulldogs rely on the senior to take the opponent’s best player, and Morrison held that player to below her season average on all but one occasion.
Morrison shared the honor with South Carolina sophomore Aliyah Boston, who recorded her first-ever triple-double against the Lady Bulldogs in a victory on Jan. 21. Boston averaged 11.7 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game.
“She is the heart and soul of that team,” Staley said of Morrison.
Staiti, Georgia’s leading scorer, was named a second-team All-SEC honoree. Staiti averages 14.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, and has recorded nine double-doubles on the season.
Staiti closed her regular season with a career-high afternoon, 30 points and 13 rebounds, in the 95-80 win at Florida.
Barker, a two-time SEC Freshman of the Week, earned a spot on the SEC All-Freshman team. Barker averaged 5.5 points per game this season, but missed contests against Auburn and Florida. Her best performance in conference play came with 11 points on a perfect 3-of-3 from deep against Ole Miss.
Georgia continues play during the SEC tournament in Greenville, South Carolina on Friday. The Lady Bulldogs earned a double-bye as a top-four seed and are contenders to win the tournament title.
For now, though, Taylor and the Lady Bulldogs can celebrate recognition of the current group.
“It is wonderful to rest our young ladies and not play on Thursday,” Taylor said of the tournament. “For them to have some recognition for their season to this point is great. We’re not done, of course, you rest at the end and not in the middle.”
SEC awards
Player of the Year: Rhyne Howard, Kentucky
Freshman of the Year: Madison Scott, Ole Miss
Co-Defensive Players of the Year: Que Morrison, Georgia & Aliyah Boston, South Carolina
6th Woman of the Year: Destiny Pitts, Texas A&M
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Ciera Johnson, Texas A&M
Coach of the Year: Joni Taylor, Georgia
First Team All-SEC
Jasmine Walker, Alabama
Chelsea Dungee, Arkansas
Rhyne Howard, Kentucky
Khayla Pointer, LSU
Shakira Austin, Ole Miss
Aliyah Boston, South Carolina
Zia Cooke, South Carolina
Rennia Davis, Tennessee
N’dea Jones, Texas A&M
Second Team All-SEC
Jordan Lewis, Alabama
Unique Thompson, Auburn
Destiny Slocum, Arkansas
Lavender Briggs, Florida
Jenna Staiti, Georgia
Aijha Blackwell, Missouri
Rae Burrell, Tennessee
Aaliyah Wilson, Texas A&M
All-Freshman
Romi Levy, Auburn
Jordyn Merritt, Florida
Sarah Ashlee Barker, Georgia
Snudda Collins, Ole Miss
Madison Scott, Ole Miss
Madison Hayes, Mississippi State
Mama Dembele, Missouri
Marta Suárez, Tennessee
All-Defensive
Que Morrison, Georgia
Khayla Pointer, LSU
Chasity Patterson, Kentucky
Aliyah Boston, South Carolina
Tamari Key, Tennessee
This story was originally published March 2, 2021 at 11:00 AM.