Salem University Athletics

VaShawn Taylor, often referred to as Woody, joins the Tigers after a three year coaching stint at Division I Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. He began as a graduate assistant in 2013 under head coach Tom Herrion and resumed responsibilities in 2014, under head coach Dan D’Antoni. His main responsibilities included developing scouting reports, film breakdown, on campus recruiting, and player development.
 
With a strong base in player development, he was instrumental in the growth of Kareem Canty who finished on the 3^rd team All Conference USA in 2014, and was a part of the C-USA All freshman team in 2014, Ryan Taylor who was also on the C-USA All freshman team in 2014, and the 3^rd Team All C-USA in 2015, and now professional player James Kelly who was 1^st team All C-USA 2016, and voted the C-USA Newcomer of the year in 2016.
 
Taylor was promoted to interim assistant during the 2015-2016 season as well. In this time, he developed & presented scouting reports, assisted with in game adjustments, helped coordinate practice plans, and assumed further recruitment responsibilities. Taylor saw the program go from 11 wins in his first two seasons to 17 wins in his last season with The Herd. Marshall finished 2^nd in C-USA with a 12-6 record in conference, their highest finish in the last 4 years. Additionally, The Herd finished 2^nd in the country in scoring with 86 points per game and 1^st in the conference in scoring at 92 points per game while running the D’Antoni up-tempo offense. Coach Taylor assisted in helping The Herd shatter school records in points scored (2,838) and 3pt field goals made (332) during the 2015-2016 season.  
 
As the Director of Community Engagement, he worked tirelessly to improve the relations between the Huntington Tri-State community and the men’s basketball program. Taylor traveled with The Herd visiting over 25 different outreach locations in the tri state area mending and building relationships. The work he did was clearly visible as The Herd saw a spike in their attendance over the last two seasons.
 
Prior to beginning his coaching career, Woody was a standout player for Division II Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida from 2009-2013. In his time at Eckerd, he was a three year starter at the point guard position where he led his team to three consecutive 20 win seasons and back to back NCAA national tournaments his junior and senior year. Taylor left his mark at Eckerd finishing 5^th in games played, 7^th in free throw percentage, 6^th in assists, and 7^th in steals for his career.
 
 In addition to being a two year captain on the team, Taylor also served as two year President of both the Eckerd and Sunshine State Conference SAAC. This propelled him to being a national representative for the conference and allowed him to make many positive changes in his local community and across the state of Florida as well.
 
Woody was born and raised in Longwood, Florida and has three siblings, Vince Taylor Jr., Charla Emel, and Sarah Taylor who coaches basketball at Thomas University. His parents, Vince and Charlene Taylor still reside in Longwood, Florida.