Joel Taylor is entering his second season as the head men’s basketball coach at Texas A&M International University. During the 2018-19 season, his first season as head coach, Taylor’s team led the Heartland Conference in overall defense and the Dustdevils ranked 37th in NCAA Division II in that category by holding opponents to only 68.2 points per game.
Taylor was named the program's sixth head coach on May 1, 2018 in a press conference at the Kinesiology and Convocation Building. Previously to being named head coach, Taylor spent the 2017-18 season as an associate head coach after spending the previous three years as an assistant. He has been instrumental in building the Dustdevils into one of the top programs in the Heartland Conference while helping Bunja Yaboe and Vadal Faniel earn all-conference honors.
The 2016-17 season saw the Dustdevils claim the program's third Heartland Conference Regular Season Championship and appear in their second-straight conference tournament as they finished the campaign with an overall record of 20-10 and 13-5 in Heartland play.
Prior to being hired at TAMIU, Taylor served as the assistant coach at Eastern Wyoming College for four years leading the Lancers to a pair of NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) Region IX Championships and two appearances in the NJCAA Tournament. He also served as an assistant at Grand Canyon University where he earned a master's degree in Business Leadership.
Taylor began his coaching career at his alma mater Northwest Missouri State. While at NWMSU, he helped the team to their first NCAA Division II Elite Eight appearance in school history. During his two-year playing career for the Bearcats, Taylor led the team the Sweet Sixteen as a senior captain in a season they started a then school record 13-0.
Taylor is a native of Delta, Utah and is married to Mihindra Taylor. He has one daughter, Saydee Lyman (Porter Lyman, son-in-law) and two granddaughters, Harli and Evie Lyman.
