two buyouts are better than one

He coached under Dawn Staley at Temple and SC. That can't be a bad thing. He's seen what it takes to win.

Additionally, he was in management for the Atlanta Dream and the Connecticut Sun. He was actually the GM last year for the Suns that made it to the semi finals. Hopefully that will help in recruiting, seeing that he knows what it takes to get to the W. Fresh ideas and eyes always help if the head coach is receptive to them. I am hopeful.

I like it. Darius is legit.

Their family is all in on making this a success.

Actually hilarious

How do you leave the front office of a wnba team for one of if not the worst power basketball teams in the country…

There was a discussion of him joining Joni her first season here. FWIW…

taylorswift13_ said:

---

How do you leave the front office of a wnba team for one of if not the worst power basketball teams in the country…

---

so you want to just make fun of everything…

taylorswift13's belittling an attempt by Taylor to add to her staff a highly qualified person in all aspects of women's basketball shows his/her extreme dislike of Taylor has obliterated any rational thought on her program.

Um what?? Why are you taking TSwifts opinions personally? lol

I think Taylor has every right to express what he wants to express based on 3 years of failed roster management and poor results. Coach Taylor has collected close to $4.5 million dollars from Texas A&M and to this point has failed at building any sort of competitive team, and cannot even get the girls she does have to buy into what she's selling. They play with the same amount of effort that she gives with folded arms on the sidelines during games. We have been a laughing stock in the SEC for the last 3 years.

With that said, I applaud the efforts to try a different recruiting route and bring in another solid coach and recruiter. We all want to see Joni succeed, but she doesn't get a pass for poor results. Let's hope this is the beginning of something special.

I think the snarkiness just wears on some of us after awhile. It's as simple as that for me.

Added another new coach - this seems like a great hire, too!

Welcome to Aggieland, @AlexVarlan3! 👍

🗞️: https://t.co/1hGEAmVzR2#GigEm pic.twitter.com/cI2uYVZx4t

— Texas A&M Women's Basketball (@AggieWBB) May 17, 2025

You guys are something else… I want to see this program win with all my heart, hence all the passion. We're a horrible program with a losing culture. We won't win anything with Joni Taylor as the past 3 years have shown. Sorry I don't want to sit around a campfire with you all and sugarcoat everything that's going on. This program is a laughing stock, we finished dead last in the conference. I don't want to sit here and watch this program burn to the ground more and more, I have no clue how you all do it, it's mind boggling. Sorry I want something done about it. I love Texas A&M and i love women's basketball, but after 3 years of pathetic leadership and an embarrasing product on the floor I have every right to be upset! Take away the wins (lol wins) and losses, you have a human being who refused to be by her players side on draft night to go be with another player so she could be on tv. She's had 16 girls leave her program. I'm not like you all, I don't want to accept mediocrity (I mean last)…

I worked for the athletic department as a student and saw first hand how Gary Blair and his staff conducted business, it's just a shame what is taking place now, an absolute shame and disgrace to everything Gary Blair built.

aggiedrjdub said:

---

Added another new coach - this seems like a great hire, too!

Welcome to Aggieland, @AlexVarlan3! 👍

🗞️: https://t.co/1hGEAmVzR2#GigEm pic.twitter.com/cI2uYVZx4t

— Texas A&M Women's Basketball (@AggieWBB) May 17, 2025

---

Happy to see this! We knew we weren't changing head coaches this year so glad to see some new assistants coming in! Welcome aboard!

Forgive if this has been discussed, but are these new coaches replacing coaches or just additions?

Alex Varlan looks to be replacing Rodney Hill.

I believe Darius' position is a new one.

Welcome to Aggieland, @_alexishyder! 👍

🗞️: https://t.co/wRCjQb5kEf#GigEm pic.twitter.com/pCq6VYHB7x

— Texas A&M Women's Basketball (@AggieWBB) May 18, 2025

Another one!

taylorswift13_ said:

---

You guys are something else… I want to see this program win with all my heart, hence all the passion. We're a horrible program with a losing culture. We won't win anything with Joni Taylor as the past 3 years have shown. Sorry I don't want to sit around a campfire with you all and sugarcoat everything that's going on. This program is a laughing stock, we finished dead last in the conference. I don't want to sit here and watch this program burn to the ground more and more, I have no clue how you all do it, it's mind boggling. Sorry I want something done about it. I love Texas A&M and i love women's basketball, but after 3 years of pathetic leadership and an embarrasing product on the floor I have every right to be upset! Take away the wins (lol wins) and losses, you have a human being who refused to be by her players side on draft night to go be with another player so she could be on tv. She's had 16 girls leave her program. I'm not like you all, I don't want to accept mediocrity (I mean last)…

I worked for the athletic department as a student and saw first hand how Gary Blair and his staff conducted business, it's just a shame what is taking place now, an absolute shame and disgrace to everything Gary Blair built.

---

If this is truly what you believe and how you feel about the program there are better ways to respond to events like this. For some of us we are so incredibly tired of all of the sarcastic, snarky comments to every post that someone makes - even if the news is welcome and has a chance to improve the program.

Also hard to support a coach who didn't want to support her own Aggie player on draft night. But if that's the leader you all wish to cheer for and think represents Texas A&M well, then by all means. Like what kind of coach, WHAT MIND OF HUMAN does that. I feel absolutely awful for Aicha Coulibaly and her family. Coming overseas for a dream of playing in the W and on the biggest night of your life your head coach goes with a player she coached 3+ years ago for a chance to be on television because she's projected to be drafted higher. Absolutely shameful, disgusting, and embarrassing. How do you all just look past this. Such a shame she has to represent Texas A&M for another 10 months…

That is a personal opinion and take. Who are you to say what Coach Joni's decision for even attending the draft was. Aicha spent the draft surrounded by the team and surely Joni's support even though she was not there. Your take that Joni just wanted to be on TV is insanely ignorant. A good coach will never not support players they coached even if it was 5+ years ago. Additionally I have spoken with Coach Joni on multiple occasions and me and the wife keep contact throughout the year for different reasons and I can guarantee that no one in the building is just happy with the results. Also to say we were not competitive at all when we made the tournament just 2 years ago is almost like blindly ignoring facts just because you don't like her. It's a new day and age in college sports as a whole, you do understand how hard it is to have a player buy into a program when the next school can just buy them out for what may seem greener pastures. Coach Blair's era was much simpler so it's really not fair to compare the two.

Ok……. I respect your opinions. But results are results. One tournament appearance and paired with one of the worst years in A&M women's basketball history. Piss poor recruiting and roster management, high turnover. It sounds like a toxic corporate environment.


I will give her this. New coaches and new recruiting approach has me intrigued. But this has to be her last year to show something.