Fred Taylor

Fred Taylor (1924-2002)

Teams coached: Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State record: 297-158 (.653)
Overall record: 297-158 (.653)

Career Accomplishments:

• NCAA National Championships:  1  (1960)
• NCAA Tournament Appearances:  5  (1960, 1961, 1962, 1968, 1971)
• NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen:  5  (1960, 1961, 1962, 1968, 1971)
• NCAA Tournament Final Four:  4  (1960, 1961, 1962, 1968)
• NIT Championships:  0
• NIT Appearances:  0
• Big Ten Regular Season Champion:  7  (1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1968, 1971)
• Helms Foundation National Championships:  1  (1960)

Awards:

• NABC Coach of the Year:  2  (1961, 1962)
• Henry Iba Award:  2  (1961, 1962)
• UPI Coach of the Year:  2  (1961, 1962)
• Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (inducted 1986)
• National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame (inducted 2006)

Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):

1958-1976	Ohio State
1957-1958	Ohio State (asst)

Fred Taylor Facts

• Frederick Rankin Taylor
• Born December 3, 1924
• Died January 6, 2002
• Hometown: Zanesville, Ohio
• Alma Mater: The Ohio State University (BA, 1950)
• After graduating from Lash HS in Zanesville, Taylor served three years in US Army (1943-46)
• Played both basketball (1948-50) and baseball (1974-50) at Ohio State; was named a baseball All-American in 1950, a first for an OSU player, and his number #27 has been retired by the program
• Played first base in the Washington Senators (MLB) organization from 1950-52, mostly for the Chattanooga Lookouts
• Started his coaching career in 1957 as an assistant to Floyd Stahl at Ohio State; Taylor was named head coach of the Buckeyes a year later
  • In his second year, the Buckeyes went 25-3 and won the 1960 NCAA national championship
  • Taylor’s teams followed that up with back-to-back runner-up finishes – both to in-state rival Cincinnati – in 1961 and 1962
  • During his eighteen years as the OSU head coach, Taylor won 297 games, seven Big Ten titles and went to a total of four NCAA Final Fours
  • Taylor’s Buckeye players include Hall of Famers Bob Knight, Jerry Lucas and John Havlicek
• Retired from coaching in 1976, but spent the next several years managing the US Men’s National Basketball Team
  • Also worked for a while as a television analyst on NBC alongside Merle Harmon
  • Managed a private golf course in New Albany, OH – The Golf Club – for 18 years
• In addition to the Naismith and College HOF inductions listed above, Taylor was also inducted into the Ohio State Varsity “O” Hall of Fame and the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame
• Passed away on at the age of 77 in Columbus, survived by his wife, Eileen, and four daughters

Fred Taylor Coaching Tree

• Jim Cleamons (Dallas Mavericks, Youngstown State)
• Don DeVoe (Navy, Tennessee, Wyoming, Virginia Tech)
• Bob Gottlieb (Milwaukee, Jacksonville)
• Bob Knight (Texas Tech, Indiana, Army)
• Frank Truitt (Kent State, LSU)