UNC Asheville men’s basketball head coach Mike Morrell announced that assistant coach Woody Taylor has been promoted to associate head coach.
“This is a well-deserved promotion for Woody,” Morrell said. “He has been a staple in our program over the last six years and has been extremely loyal to UNC Asheville. As he does with all of his responsibilities, he will thrive in this role.”
The 2025-26 season will be Taylor’s seventh season at UNC Asheville. Taylor earned his 100th win as a member of the Bulldogs’ coaching staff in Asheville’s 95-53 victory over Columbia International on Dec. 30. The Bulldogs earned their third consecutive 20-win season, and Asheville has compiled a program-record 70 wins over the last three seasons. In the last four seasons of Big South Conference play, the team has a league-best .712 winning percentage and is 47-19 against Big South opponents. The Bulldogs went 13-1 inside Kimmel Arena during the 2024-25 season and have a .926 winning percentage and a 38-3 record in Kimmel Arena over the last three seasons, the third-highest home winning percentage in the nation. The 2024-25 season also saw the men’s basketball program set a new school record for most Big South Conference Awards received and most individuals recognized, as five Bulldogs earned seven league awards at the completion of the regular season.
Taylor helped guide the program to back-to-back Big South Conference Championship game appearances, with the 2022-23 season seeing Asheville earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with the program’s championship victory over Campbell (77-73). Asheville’s NCAA Tournament appearance in 2023 marks the Bulldogs’ first appearance in “The Big Dance” since 2016.
The Bulldogs went 27-8 during the 2022-23 season, which tied for the fourth-most wins in Division I men’s basketball and tied for the most by any Division I school in the State of North Carolina that season. Furthermore, the 2022-23 Bulldogs matched the school record with 16 Big South regular-season victories and set a new single-season program record with 25 wins against Division I opponents.
In Taylor’s third season, Asheville made its first postseason appearance in four seasons during the 2021-22 season, as the Bulldogs were invited to compete in the College Basketball Invitational. During his second season in Asheville, Taylor helped lead the Bulldogs to a 10-10 record and a 9-5 mark in Big South play. Despite not being able to compete for 30 days down the stretch of the season due to COVID-19, Asheville’s 9-5 mark in the Big South was its sixth-best win percentage (.643) in the last 15 seasons.
In Taylor’s first season in Asheville, he helped the Bulldogs achieve one of the best turnarounds in the country. The Dogs went from a four-win team the season before to a 15-16 record in 2019-20. The 11-victory improvement ranked tied for third in Division I, and Asheville was one of just four teams in the country with a double-digit win improvement.
“I’m very appreciative of Coach Morrell for the opportunity to continue working with him in this new position,” Taylor said. “Asheville is a fantastic place with fantastic people, and I’m excited to continue building our program and connecting with our community alongside the rest of our staff as we enter into a new season. Go Bulldogs!”
https://uncabulldogs.com/news/2025/6/4/mens-basketball-woody-taylor-promoted-to-associate-head-coach
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