Georgia women’s basketball head coach Joni Taylor has reached a new threshold in her coaching career. Taylor helped coach the USA Basketball Junior National team to the FIBA U-19 World Cup Championship in Debrecen, Hungary.

As an assistant, Taylor helped to lead Team USA to a 70-52 victory over the Australian National Team in the under-19 final, hosted by the International Basketball Federation.

This was the United States’ ninth championship overall and second consecutive after winning the title in 2019.

The American team went a perfect 7-0 through the tournament. It was the second time Taylor worked as a coach for USA Basketball. Taylor was a court coach for the U-18 National Team Trials.

Taylor was named an assistant coach on the U-19 team on May 3 after proving her worth over six seasons at the University of Georgia. After coming to Georgia in 2015, Taylor has led the Bulldogs to a winning record in all six seasons. Her overall record at Georgia is 119-65.

2021 proved to be one of Taylor’s most successful seasons to date. The Bulldogs finished the year with a 21-7 overall record and after making a run in the SEC tournament the team was ranked as a three seed in the NCAA tournament, Georgia’s highest seeding since 2007.

The Bulldogs were knocked out of the tournament in the second round by Oregon after defeating Drexel in the first round. The season was enough for Taylor to be named SEC Coach of the Year and to finish as a National Coach of the Year finalist.

Printed with permission from the Red & Black independent student media organization based in Athens, Georgia; redandblack.com/sports