ATLANTA (Feb. 28, 2025) — Texas A&M head coach Joni Taylor is the recipient of the 2025 WBCA Carol Eckman Integrity in Coaching Award, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association announced today.
The Carol Eckman Integrity in Coaching Award is named in honor of the late Carol Eckman, the former West Chester State College coach, who is considered the “Mother of the Women’s Collegiate Basketball Championship.” Eckman organized and conducted the first women’s basketball championship in 1969 at West Chester State (now known as West Chester University). She continued to garner recognition and support for the women’s game until her death from cancer in 1985. The WBCA presents the award annually to an active member coach who exemplifies Eckman’s spirit, integrity and character through sportsmanship, commitment to the student-athlete, honesty, ethical behavior, courage and dedication to purpose.
“Joni Taylor continues to spread her wings and rise higher in the game with each passing season. She has earned the respect of her peers as a collegiate head coach, USA Basketball coach, and member of the WBCA Board of Directors. Joni is talented and has a fantastic rapport with her players,” said WBCA Executive Director Danielle Donehew.
“This award is the ultimate blessing from Joni’s peers as to the way in which she leads, serves, and stewards the game. Joni’s integrity, thoughtfulness, and love for the game and all those within it, is exemplary; and her role as a leader in the WBCA continues to strengthen the coaching profession for years to come.”
Taylor has over 20 years of collegiate coaching experience. The Meridian, Mississippi, native was a four-year letter winner at Alabama from 1998-2001. Her coaching career began at Troy, and she made stops as an assistant at Louisiana Tech, Alabama, LSU and Georgia before being named the head coach at UGA in 2015. While at Georgia, Taylor was named the 2016 Maggie Dixon Rookie Coach of the Year and was the 2021 SEC Coach of the Year. She amassed 140 victories and took the Lady Bulldogs to four NCAA Tournaments. Taylor led UGA to the 2021 SEC Tournament Championship game and with Dawn Staley became the first pair of African American female coaches to coach in the championship game.
At Texas A&M, Taylor led the program to the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament each of her first two seasons and in her third has put together one of the toughest schedules in the country along with the team’s first ranked win in nearly four years. During the 2023-24 campaign, Taylor guided the team to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021.
Taylor is a five-time gold medal winning coach with USA Basketball, and most recently won gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics with Team USA. Prior to the Olympics, Taylor brough home her fourth gold medal with the 2023 USA Basketball Women’s U19 National Team this summer and earned recognition as the 2023 USA Basketball 5-on-5 Junior National Team Coach of the Year.
She began the Beyond Basketball organization in 2015 while in Athens, Georgia, and has since brought it to Aggieland where over 150 women in the Brazos Valley meet on a monthly basis. Beyond Basketball’s mission is to educate, support and connect women of all ages and ethnicities by creating exceptional experiences that lead members to flourish in their respective professions, communities and overall lives. Once a month, women of the Brazos Valley come to recharge and fellowship over breakfast at these Beyond Basketball meetings.
Her husband is Darius Taylor, and they have two daughters, Jacie and Drew.
“I want to thank the WBCA for this incredible honor,” said Taylor. “I am very appreciative to be associated with the Carol Eckman Integrity in Coaching Award. To be nominated by my peers and selected is so special to me. In my opinion, Carol Eckman is the mother of our game, and she did so much to champion our sport into what it is today.”
The Carol Eckman Award was first presented in 1985. To see a list of past recipients, visit WBCA.org/awards.
About the WBCA
The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association is the professional association for coaches of women’s and girls’ basketball at all levels of competition. Founded in 1981, the WBCA offers educational resources that coaches need to help make themselves better leaders, teachers and mentors to their players; provides opportunities for coaches to connect with peers in the profession; serves as the unifying voice of a diverse community of coaches to the organizations that control the game; and celebrates those coaches, players and other individuals who excel each year and contribute to the advancement of the sport. Visit WBCA.org for more details about the association.
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