The University of Mississippi Athletics
Wiggins Adds Landers, Taylor As Assistant Coaches
4/9/2012 | Women's Basketball
April 9, 2012
OXFORD, Miss. - Ole Miss women's basketball head coach Adrian Wiggins has announced the additions of Kenya Landers and Rebecca Taylor to his staff as assistant coaches.
Landers, who comes to Ole Miss from Trinity Valley Community College (Texas), will serve as the recruiting coordinator while Taylor, who will join the Rebels from Rice University, will also have heavy emphasis on recruiting.
"In Kenya, it's going to be great to have such a high-caliber coach join my staff. She has been a head coach of a national championship team and was a very high-level Division I player. She will bring a great deal of wealth and experience to our program," Wiggins said. "I'm excited about the knowledge and commitment Rebecca will bring to the program. She played collegiately in Mississippi so she knows the area well, which will help in recruiting."
Most recently, Landers served as a co-head coach at Trinity Valley Community College where she led her team to a 36-0 record and a national championship in 2011-12. During her two years at TVCC, Landers posted a 70-3 overall record with two appearances in the national championship game.
Prior to Landers' coaching stint at TVCC, she was an assistant at LSU from 2008-10 under Van Chancellor, where the team made two NCAA tournament appearances and signed nationally ranked recruiting classes. Prior to LSU, she spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Oklahoma State University under former TVCC head coach Kurt Budke. The Cowgirls made NCAA Tournament appearances in 2007 and 2008, advancing to the Sweet 16 in 2008.
The Duncanville, Texas native played a key role as point guard for TVCC from 1998-2000 as she posted the college's first-ever perfect season (36-0) and fourth national title in six years. In her two years at the college, the Lady Cardinals were 60-6.
Landers transferred to the University of Texas where she played for the Longhorns from 2000-02. At Texas, she played in all 65 of the Lady Longhorns' games in her two seasons, starting 63 games. As a senior, she led the Longhorns to the Sweet 16.
Landers played professionally overseas for two seasons, leading her European Pro League (Israel) team to the playoffs twice.
She earned her bachelor's degree in education from the University of Texas in 2002.
Taylor spent the previous four seasons (2008-12) as an assistant coach at Rice University in Houston, Texas. While at Rice, Taylor's primary focus was on coaching the post players in addition to assisting with recruiting and opponent scouting.
Taylor, a native of Cashion, Okla., served as Rice's director of basketball operations during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons as the Owls recorded consecutive WNIT appearances. Taylor also oversaw community relations in addition to the team managers before taking an assistant coaching job at Tulsa in 2007-08.
With the Golden Hurricane, Taylor assisted with recruiting and scouting along with developing Tulsa's post players. Larrissa Williams notched All-Conference USA Third-Team honors, while Chanel Johnson secured a spot on the league's All-Defensive Team in 2007.
Taylor was a four-year letterwinner at Mississippi State where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in communication with a major in broadcasting and a minor in public relations. The Lady Bulldogs advanced to the NCAA second round in 2002 and 2003 along with a WNIT appearance in 2005.
