BY NOAH GRIFFITH
FOR THE OBSERVER
AUBURN —
Auburn University and Team USA wheelchair basketball coach Robb Taylor has been coaching for over 20 years, and he has won a lot of gold medals in that time. Last week, he brought home his first ever physical gold medal.
He became head coach of the U.S. Paralympic basketball team in January 2022, and he led it to its first gold medal since 2002 at the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation World Championships in Dubai on June 20. Taylor redeemed the four silver medals in past world championships with a gold one, which is the first visible thing when you walk in his office in Beard-Eaves Coliseum.
After two and a half weeks in Dubai and several weeks at training camp in Turkey a few weeks prior, Taylor brought the gold home to his wife and children.
“I’ve been an assistant coach for a long time, and we’ve won a lot of gold medals: three Paralympic gold medals, three Parapan gold medals, but had never won gold at world championships,” Taylor said. “Paralympic coaches don’t get medals — athletes only. So I’ve come home from world championships with nothing but silver medals. I’ll be honest, they don’t ever come out of the closet. But this one, it’ll hang out [in my office] with the trophy.”
This win instilled a sense of pride not only for Taylor but for the entire USA team — ending a 21-year “curse” of no championships for the red, white and blue. No one on the current team had previously won gold at world championships, and this one took some extra blood, sweat and tears.
They stared into the face of defeat multiple times in the tournament, but the defense put the hammer down and led the team to two comeback wins over familiar foes.
After beating Argentina to start tournament crossover play, the USA faced Australia in the quarterfinals, who beat the American team a few weeks prior in a training camp in Turkey. It looked like history was going to repeat itself, but the USA rallied in a big way.
“Australia was dominating us most of the first half. Then our defense kicked in and locked them down,” Taylor recalled. “I think they had four points in the third quarter and five or six in the fourth. But with 1:47 left, I look over at Australia’s bench and their coach was starting to pack up his bag.”
Next, the USA defeated the Netherlands in the semifinal to set up a rematch with reigning world champion Great Britain for the gold. Great Britain defeated the USA in the 2018 championship game, and they came out on top once again earlier in Dubai in pool play. This time, the American team was able to maximize their lineup and rally to take down Great Britain.
“We came in with our second lineup, and things started to click defensively,” Taylor said. “We called it the Tokyo lineup because five guys who played with us in Tokyo were in that lineup. It was a lineup we knew wasn’t going to get rattled.”
It was that lineup that sealed the championship game after Great Britain had the ball down by one with 11 seconds on the clock. After the USA’s Jorge Sanchez missed two free throws while up by one, Great Britain pushed the ball down the floor but ended up turning it over without getting a shot off, resulting in a USA victory.
“It was 67-66, I’ll never forget it as long as I live,” Taylor said while shaking his head. “I’m a pretty mellow coach; I don’t show a lot of emotion, but that’s the one time I did — double fists and started screaming. I right away looked at the bench and found my assistant coach, who had played for us through Tokyo, and just being able to give him a hug — It was everything we had worked for.”
There’s only one thing left on the to-do list for Taylor.
“Now, it’s like I’ve achieved everything: I’ve won gold in every major competition, which is just an amazing achievement for me and this team,” Taylor said. “Now, the challenge is can I win a national championship with the Auburn team?”