March 24, 2008
Fairfax, Va.--Assistant Vice President/Director of Athletics Tom O'Connor announced that women's basketball coach Debbie Taneyhill has resigned to pursue other opportunities.
Debbie Taneyhill spent 11 seasons as Mason's head women's basketball coach and had some success while at the helm of the Patriot program. In Taneyhill's tenure with Mason, she guided the Patriots to four-straight winning campaigns (2000-04), two post-season appearances in the WNIT in 2001 and 2004 and was named 2001 Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year. Following the 2007-08 season, Taneyhill owns an overall career coaching record of 144-162 (.471).
"I have been blessed to spend 16 years in the coaching business in the same place and I am truly grateful to George Mason University for that opportunity. I have worked with outstanding people and coached so many super young ladies, and I'm proud of the accomplishments our program made during my tenure. Mason will always be a special place to me and I wish them great success in the future," said Taneyhill.
"Debbie has been such a big part of Mason basketball, first as a player and excellent student-athlete then as a head coach for more than a decade," said O'Connor. "We are extremely grateful for all her hard work and dedication she provided to the program and the student-athletes. We wish her the best in her future endeavors."
She was the sixth coach in George Mason's 33-year history and was the only head coach to amass 10 or more wins in each of her first eight seasons. She led the Patriots to the 2004 CAA Championship title game for just the third time in school history, but Mason fell to Old Dominion by a score of 85-81. Taneyhill ranks second all-time among Mason coaches in both wins and games coached.
In only her third full season in 2000-01, Mason tied the school record for wins, going 21-9 after a 10-19 showing in 1999-2000. Those additional 11 victories stand as the best one-year turnaround in the program's history.
The 38-year old has been a part of the Mason family since 1988. Taneyhill played collegiately for the Patriots and then worked her way up the coaching ranks as she went from an assistant coach to associate coach and then to head coach. On Dec. 27, 1997, Taneyhill was given a chance to coach her former team as she was named the interim head coach for the remainder of the 1997-98 season. Taneyhill was then offered the head coaching position on Feb. 25, 1998, and is the first Colonial Athletic Association women's basketball player to advance to head coach at the same institution, and only the second to do so.
Taneyhill coached former Mason stand-out Jen Derevjanik for four years (2000-04) and while Derevjanik was with the Patriots she earned Rookie of the Year accolades (2001) and was named to both the All-CAA First Team (2004) and All-CAA Second Team (2002, 2003). Derevjanik became just the second player in Mason history to play in the WNBA and currently plays for the Phoenix Mercury. In addition, Taneyhill also coached Vernessa Neamo (2000-04), who played for the NWBL's Birmingham Power in 2005. All together, Taneyhill has coached one WNBA player, two NWBL athletes, six European professionals, nine All-CAA performers, one CAA Rookie of the Year, four league all-tournament team members and on nine occasions her athletes have earned all-academic honors.
From 1988-92 Taneyhill was a standout point guard on the Patriot basketball team, playing in 109 games. She remains in the Patriot record books, ranking eighth in assists with 273 and she held the record for the most consecutive free throws made with 21 until the 1996-97 season.
After graduating from Mason in 1992 with a degree in English, Taneyhill served as an assistant coach for three years and was promoted to associate coach in 1995. Taneyhill earned her degree in just three and a half years, with a cumulative grade point average of 3.97, and had a perfect 4.0 GPA in every semester but one. She earned her Master's in Education in December 1997.
Taneyhill is a proud parent of Jason Thomas Aigner, who was born in September 1998. They reside in Fairfax, Va.
YEAR RECORD PCT CAA
1997-98 10-10 .500 8-8
1998-99 13-14 .481 10-6
1999-00 10-19 .345 5-11
2000-01 21-9 .700 11-5
2001-02 17-14 .548 10-8
2002-03 14-12 .538 11-7
2003-04 18-11 .621 11-7
2004-05 12-16 .429 8-10
2005-06 12-17 .414 7-11
2006-07 8-21 .276 2-16
2007-08 9-21 .321 3-15
TOTAL 144-162 .471 84-104
