• 2011-12 CIS Coach of the Year
• 2011-12 Canada West Coach of the Year
Dave Taylor was hired as the University of Regina’s ninth women’s basketball head coach in May of 2006.
The women’s basketball program has enjoyed a great deal of success under Taylor, including Canada West titles in both 2013 and 2018 and appearances in the 2008, 2009, and 2013 national championship games. The Cougars have played in the national tournament nine times during the Taylor era, also appearing in the Canada West championship game in all nine of those seasons.
Taylor is the program’s all-time leader in both conference wins and postseason victories. Through the 2021-22 season, he has amassed a fine 235-75 (.758) record in Canada West games and has guided the Cougars to a 58-29 (.667) postseason record. His teams were ranked in 98 consecutive national top ten polls in an incredible streak that started in October of 2007 and finally ended early in the 2014-15 campaign.
Taylor was named the national Coach of the Year and the Canada West Coach of the Year following a 2011-12 season that saw the Cougars put together an unblemished 20-0 conference record. Taylor joined Christine Stapleton as the only U of R women's basketball coaches to earn national Coach of the Year honours.
Taylor has hit the international stage with his recruiting, first bringing in Polish guard Joanna Zalesiak prior to the 2009-10 season and then landing American guard Michelle Clark following her graduation from Purdue University. Janine Guijt (Netherlands), Tefa Vilela (Brazil), Carolina Goncalves (Portugal), Bilge Topaloglu (Turkey), Zoe Hartmann (Germany), and Julia Vydrova (Czechia) have also been part of the diverse Cougar program.
Both Zalesiak and Clark went on to be named All-Canadians for the Cougars, with Zalesiak earning two All-Canadian nods. Taylor has also coached three other All-Canadians (Nicole Clarke, Charlotte Kot, and Kyanna Giles), back-to-back U SPORTS Rookie of the Year selections (Giles and Goncalves), a Canada West Player of the Year (Zalesiak), and has had 20 Canada West all-star selections. In 2022, Jade Belmore joined Giles and Goncalves on the list of Canada West Rookie of the Year selections during the Taylor era.
Taylor, who graduated from the University of Saskatchewan in 1989 with a Bachelor of Education and received a Master of Science from Duquesne University in 2011, joined Stapleton’s staff as an assistant coach beginning with the 1993-94 season. He served as an assistant under both Stapleton and Jeff Speedy for 13 seasons before being named head coach following Speedy’s departure.
The Cougars thrived during Taylor’s time as assistant coach, as the U of R won a national championship (2001) and four conference championships (1999, 2000, 2001, and 2004) and made seven appearances at the national tournament (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, and 2005).
Taylor served as the head coach of the senior girls’ basketball teams at Usher Collegiate (1992-93), Martin Collegiate (1993-94), and Sheldon-Williams Collegiate (1994-03 and 2005-06). He also spent eight seasons coaching numerous Saskatchewan provincial teams, including two Canada Summer Games squads.
Taylor and his wife Jennifer Seaman have three children (Anna, Hayden, and Reese).
