Mark Taylor Takes Coaching Reins At St. Benedict’s

Former St. Joseph’s Hoops Coach Steps Down From Ridge To Coach At Top Jersey School

NEWARK, NJ–The coaching carousel has already begun to spin this off-season. Not too long after the season ended, Kevin Boyle, the long time head coach at St. Patrick’s, who guided the tiny Elizabeth school to national prominence over the past 20 years, left the powerhouse to take a head coach position at Montverde Academy in Florida. In addition, former St. Anthony’s standout, Roshown McCleod stepped down after one season at St. Benedict’s.

Replacing McCleod is former St. Joseph’s head coach, Mark Taylor, who had recently completed a very successful stint at Ridge High School in Somerset County. In each of the past three years, the Red Devils reached the semifinals of the North Jersey Section 2 Group IV State Tournament. In addition, the Devils also reached the finals of the Somerset County Tournament in three of the last four seasons including a title in 2009-10. According to Ridge Hoops online, the Devils won 94 games over the past five years, which was the most of any public school program in Somerset County.

Prior to coaching at Ridge, Taylor played and coached at St. Joseph’s. He was an all Middlesex County Tournament player in 1983, and took over a Falcon program that was in the midst of rebuilding after winning its first ever conference title in 1993. In the eleven seasons as coach of the Falcons, Taylor guided the team to six GMC Red Division titles, six GMCT Championship game appearances, and two GMCT titles in 1998 and 1999. The Falcons also had seven berths in the GMCT Final Four.

Taylor coached two NBA players in Jay Williams (Chicago Bulls) and Andrew Bynum (Los Angeles Lakers). He’s also coached many other fine players such as Andrew Madlinger, Nick Cefalo, and Ishaq Pitt as well as Sean Baptiste, Kenny Widgeon, Jonathan Dixon, Tom Scott, Calvin Cannon, Greg Kuchinski, Preston Beverly, and Brian Wilson. He will be the third coach at St. Benedicts in the past three years. After last season, Danny Hurley, who brought the school to great heights stepped down to take the men’s basketball head coaching position at Wagner.