Kyle Taylor was named Head Varsity Basketball Coach of the Abilene Cowboys on Tuesday. Taylor has served as the Freshman Coach the last five seasons at AHS, where he compiled an 83-13 record. His first year, at AHS, he served under his father, Terry Taylor and his previous four seasons under Erik Graefe. Kyle Taylor, was part of a staff under Graefe that made it to State three times. He has helped with the Abilene program in some capacity though dating back to 2007 when his father took over the program. Terry Taylor was head coach from 2007-2020 and his teams went 218-78. His .736 winning percentage is the highest in school history. He guided the Cowboys to three State tournaments in his 13 years including a 3rd place finish in 2017, their best finish since 1992.
Taylor played for his father at Augusta High School and the pair won a 4A State Championship in 2002. He went on to play one season at Ft. Scott Community College and then one season at Butler County Community College. He finished his playing career as a walk-on at Kansas State University.
Taylor brings plenty of coaching experience to the table. He started his coaching career at Riley County. He was their Freshman Coach in 2006-07. He then went to Andover Central where he served as their J.V. Coach from 2007-2011. His J.V. teams at Andover Central went 63-13, while the varsity went to State three times in four seasons, including a 4th place finish in 2010. He then went on to be the Head Coach at Goddard from 2011-2018. His teams at Goddard faced tough competition in the AVCTL Division II against Andover, Andover Central, Arkansas City, Eisenhower, Salina Central and Valley Center.
He then moved to Abilene and served as an assistant 8th Grade boy’s basketball coach for the 2018-19 season. The team went 9-7 and won the NCKL. The next season he would join the High School staff, where he has been ever since.
Last season the Cowboys finished 19-4, 10-0 and lost in the opening round to eventual State runner-up Hugoton. Abilene will return starter Tyler Holloway along with their top three reserves in Weston Rock, Ian Crump and Taygen Funston. Abilene also has talented players on the way. The J.V. went 15-5, 8-2 last season under Tyler Bryson.
“I am excited for the opportunity to be the varsity coach here at Abilene High School,” Taylor said. “Becoming the head coach at AHS has been a goal of mine for a long time. I look forward to continuing to build the great tradition we have within the Abilene basketball program. We have a great group of guys returning at that varsity level that I got to coach as Freshman and I am excited to see all the great things they can accomplish.”
