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Friday, October 6, 2000

New Islanders assistant gets little time to adjust
Taylor, hired Thursday, has one week until first practice
By Mark Zuckerman
Caller-Times
Bobby Taylor would probably like to spend some time settling into his new office at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, getting better acquainted with Islanders head basketball coach Ronnie Arrow and learning the names of his players.
   Unfortunately Taylor, who was hired Thursday as A&M-Corpus Christi's new assistant coach, doesn't have much time to get situated in his new surroundings. Not with the first practice of the 2000-2001 season one week away.
   "I just want to get comfortable with Coach Arrow, the other members of the staff, the players," said Taylor, who spent the last two years as an assistant at Grand Valley State in Michigan. "The X's and O's will take care of itself."
   The 32-year-old Taylor takes over at A&M-Corpus Christi for Johnny Brown, who left for a similar position at Northern Iowa in August. Brown's departure left Arrow with little time to find a new assistant.
   "The timing of it wasn't good," said Arrow, who received about 25 applications for the job. "But the bottom line is we got ourselves a very good coach before the season started."
   Well-regarded for his recruiting skills, Taylor was an All-MAC Conference point guard at Toledo in 1990, averaging 12.6 points per game. The Grand Rapids, Mich., native has coached previously at Cowley County (Kan.) College and Paris Junior College.
   "Everybody I talked to said he's one of the bright young coaches on his way up," Arrow said. "Wherever he's been, he's brought in good players."
   Though the offer to move to Corpus Christi came late in the offseason, Taylor was quick to jump on the first Division I job of his coaching career.
   "(The timing) made it a little difficult," he said. "But fortunately, I had a head coach who was very understanding and was very supportive. He knew this was a great opportunity for me and encouraged me to take it."
   In addition to his assistant coaching duties, Taylor will serve as A&M-Corpus Christi's recruiting coordinator.
   "Here, you wear a whole bunch of hats," Arrow said. "But the recruiting process will start with him."
   Though he hadn't met Arrow prior to interviewing for the job, Taylor had known about the A&M-Corpus Christi program for the last couple of years.
   "I knew about the school, and I knew about the program," Taylor said. "I was very surprised at the success they had last year. But I guess I shouldn't have been, because of Coach Arrow's track record."

VOLLEYBALL TOPS PRAIRIE VIEW: Marcille Cox tallied a season-high 17 kills and Melanie Travis added 12 to lead the A&M-Corpus Christi volleyball team to a five-game road victory over Prairie View A&M late Wednesday.
   The Islanders, who won their second straight match, ended a two-hour, 15-minute marathon on the third service ace by Heather Martin.
   A&M-Corpus Christi (3-13) benefited from 11 aces and used a dominant blocking performance in the victory. Freshman Laney Bardin paced the blocking attack with a school-record five block solos and eight block assists against the Lady Panthers (7-13). She also chipped in 10 kills in the process.
   Cassiana Costa, who recorded the program's first triple-double in her last outing against Incarnate Word, fell one kill short of accomplishing the feat again, finishing with nine kills, 42 assists and 11 digs.
   The Islanders host Jackson State at 7 p.m. Saturday.



Staff writer Mark Zuckerman can be reached at 886-3747 or by e-mail at zuckermanm@caller.com

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