Former Corbin Redhound Andrew Taylor lands with Marshall Thundering Herd

Andrew Taylor became the all-time leading scorer in Corbin’s history during his five-year stint playing varsity basketball for Tony Pietrowski’s Redhounds. The question was not “if,” but rather “where” he would end up playing collegiate ball once his high school career was over.

Initially, Taylor signed on to play for the Furman University men’s basketball team in Greenville, South Carolina. He made the trip south after graduating from Corbin in the spring of 2018, but his time as a Paladin was short.

After finding out that Furman wasn’t the best fit for him after all, Taylor left Greenville and began searching for new opportunities. A months-long process of exploring options and weighing out pros and cons ensued, but has now culminated with the former Redhound great heading to West Virginia as the newest member of the Marshall Thundering Herd.

For those unaware, Marshall is an NCAA Division I school competing in Conference USA. Located in Huntington, the university is about three hours away from Corbin, or a little more than an hour closer than Furman.

A tweet sent out by the Thundering Herd’s official Twitter account Monday evening quoted the team’s head coach, Dan D’Antoni, saying, “He [Taylor] has gone to Furman, but wanted to come closer to home. He had his first practice today. He’s a big kid who can shoot the ball, and he’ll sit the rest of the semester.”

Sports fans are likely to recognize the name D’Antoni, especially if they follow basketball closely at all. Dan, a Marshall Athletics Hall of Famer, is the brother of Houston Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni. Prior to coming back to Marshall to coach the Thundering Herd, Dan assisted Mike during stints coaching the Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers.

Under Dan D’Antoni’s leadership, Marshall has seen a higher level of success than ever before, winning 27 games last season that included a CUSA championship victory, and the program’s first-ever NCAA tournament victory.

As for how Taylor feels about being the newest member of the Herd, he said, “This is the right place for me. Marshall is rich in tradition, and everyone here loves basketball. Coach Dan has a blueprint in place for me to be the best that I can be.”

“God put me through a refining process while I was at home,” Taylor added. “I am excited to pursue the opportunities ahead of me now.”

For more information on Marshall Athletics, visit their official website at www.herdzone.com.