Sad news: Corky Taylor has died

BleedGopher

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Reusse just tweeted this:

"Corky Taylor has died. Good guy. Good citizen. Should be remembered for more than Ohio State brawl in January 1972."

Go Gophers!!
 

Reusse just tweeted this:

"Corky Taylor has died. Good guy. Good citizen. Should be remembered for more than Ohio State brawl in January 1972."

Go Gophers!!

All true, and he lost a tough fight with cancer according to 1500.
 

Release from the U:

Gopher Hoops Family Loses Corky Taylor to Cancer

The University of Minnesota men’s basketball program lost a member of its family today as Corky Taylor passed away due to complications from lung cancer. Taylor played for the Gophers from 1970-1973.

“We are so saddened by the loss of Corky Taylor,” said Gopher head basketball coach Tubby Smith. “I had the opportunity to get to know him over the last five years. He was as nice of a man that I have met since coming to the University of Minnesota and certainly a Gopher through and through.

“He had been a mentor to many of our former players and I know that helped tremendously in my transition here at the University of Minnesota. We are grateful to have had the opportunity to know him. He certainly helped my job run a lot smoother because of his guidance and encouragement. Today is a sad day for the Golden Gopher family. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Corky’s family and friends.”

Taylor was a three-year letterwinner for the Gophers and member of the 1971-72 team that captured the Big Ten Championship. He played 51 total games in Maroon and Gold, finishing his career with averages of 3.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.


-UM-

Go Gophers!!
 


I remember seeing him at all of his son's basketball games, up in the stands with a video camera in his hands. All though I never spoke to him he always seems to be a nice man who enjoyed watching his kids play.

Thoughts and prayers go out to the family, the Taylor kids were a joy to watch play in high school, Mr. Taylor raised first class kids. Kudos to him, may he rest in peace!!!!
 


3.3 ppg. Is that correct?

It sounds right. Corky never started for MN but played for an incredibly talented team under Bill Musselman, class of 1973. The starters in '73 were Jim Brewer, Ron Behagen, Clyde Turner, Dave Winfield and I think Bob Nix. Taylor in the front court and Keith Young in the back court were first off the bench.

The gap between the majors (BCS) and mid-majors was much greater in those days and the big guys typically had players coming off the bench who were a lot better than the starting players on those other teams. The Gophers included. Corky probably would have started for a lot of other Gopher teams before and after that one. But that one just had too much talent. I would say Taylor had less impact than you might think based on his notoriety, but he was as good of a player as you might imagine.
 

Taylor and Behagen (a future 7th overall pick) were suspended for the year following the Ohio State brawl and they still won the Big Ten. Shows you how loaded that group was.
 






per Shama:

Al Nuness just finished his Gophers basketball playing career in the spring of 1969 when coach Bill Fitch asked him to help recruit Corky Taylor, a high school prospect in Detroit. Nuness and others paid tribute to Corky last week at the Plymouth Covenant Church in Plymouth. Corky, 60, died in late June from lung cancer.

Nuness, who described the 6-9 Taylor as a “big teddy bear with a great smile,” told Sports Headliners how he learned more about his friend at the funeral. “He was very private to begin with. He was deeply religious,” Nuness said. “It showed in the way his funeral was handled. It was very moving.”

Former Gophers teammates from Corky’s 1972 Big Ten championship team attending the funeral included Ron Behagen, Jim Brewer and also Clyde Turner who gave a eulogy. Gophers from other eras included Walter Bond, Willie Burton, Nate Tubbs and Trent Tucker.

Nuness acknowledged that Taylor’s name will long be associated with the 1972 Gophers- Ohio State brawl. Taylor was a major participant in the fight between the two teams. “That was totally out of character for Corky what happened,” Nuness said.

http://shamasportsheadliners.com/

Go Gophers!!
 





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