No regrets
Taylor glad to be counselor, coach at Oak Ridge
Paige Taylor has been girls basketball coach at Oak Ridge High School for nearly a decade. She is now in her ninth season. (photo:Daya Ayala )
But she answered the call when her services on the court were needed.
And she’s had the reins for one of the state’s most tradition-rich girls basketball programs at Oak Ridge High School for nearly a decade.
She recently began her ninth season as the Lady Wildcats’ head coach.
Taylor was working as a counselor at ORHS, and the girls basketball team had a revolving door of coaches after the retirement of the legendary Jill Prudden.
After the Lady Wildcats had multiple coaches over a short span, it became apparent that Taylor’s services were needed and wanted on the hardwood.
“I never thought I would be a high school basketball coach,” she said. “I didn’t come to Oak Ridge with the intent to coach high school basketball.”
Taylor also remained a counselor at the school.
“But the girls wanted me to be their coach and I got a text from one of the players, Mykia Dowdell, who is now my assistant coach, saying that they wanted me to be their coach,” she said.
That was all the prodding that Taylor needed. And all these years later, the coach says she has no regrets.
“I’m glad I did this, because sometimes kids need a voice when they don’t have one,” she said. “That’s why I became a counselor.”
Since being hired as the Lady Wildcats’ coach, Taylor has guided the team to three state tournaments, and a state championship game appearance (2016).
Entering the 2023-24 campaign, she had 218 wins at the school.
Taylor, a two-time all-state player at Bradley Central High School in Cleveland, became enamored with basketball.
“I started playing in the third grade, and in fifth grade, my dad told me that if I was going to play, that I was going to work at it and be good,” Taylor said. “I worked so hard at it and I actually grew up thinking everybody played sports.
“I thought that was just always what you did.”
Her father and her brother were her mentors in basketball. Her father, in order to get her exposure and good competition, drove her to Shelbyville to play AAU ball in the spring and summer.
In Shelbyville, her teammates included Tennessee Lady Vols Coach Kellie Harper.
Her brother, who passed away prior to her senior year at Bradley Central, also played basketball, and she dedicated her senior year to him.
Taylor also took part in other sports, she said.
“I ran track, I played volleyball and I played softball,” she said. “But I always ended the day working out in basketball. I always knew it was going to be basketball.
“We had a key to the gym and Dad always took me to the gym after I played other sports.”
Taylor played college basketball in the Southeastern Conference for Vanderbilt after being Miss Basketball at Bradley Central. She was also an All-America standout on the hardwood.
As a coach, Taylor is competitive and wants to win, but she said basketball is about more than that.
“Everybody wants to win and you’re judged by wins and losses, but you want to impact kids’ lives,” she said.
Basketball is a big part of Taylor’s life, but family is also a priority.
“If I didn’t have basketball, I would spend time with my family, being a mom,” she said. “My daughter played here for me and my son is always at my game.
“Family is important to me.”