Hall of Fame
Johnny Taylor was the Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Year in 1997 after leading the Mocs to the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 in the program’s most successful Division I season ever.
Taylor, a Chattanooga native, led the Mocs to the 1997 Southern Conference Tournament Championship, which earned the squad an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. UTC became the darlings of the Tournament after upsetting higher seeds Georgia and Illinois to advance to the Sweet 16, the program’s farthest advancement in the tournament.
Taylor’s career scoring average of 17.3 points per game from 1995 to 1997 ranks fourth on the school’s all-time list, and his career point total of 1,070 stands 11th.
Taylor is the only First-Round National Basketball Association Draft Choice in school history, going in the first round to the Orlando Magic with the 17th overall selection. The two-time All-Southern Conference performer also played professionally with the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and continues to excel in his professional career overseas.
