Bob Taylor
Head Men's Basketball Coach

Bob Taylor enters his 11th season as head coach of the Northwood Men's Basketball program. Taylor has led the T-Wolves to an 133-138 record in 10 seasons, making him the second winningest coach in Northwood history.

Northwood went 17-12 in the 2003-04 season, a campaign that saw the team reach the GLIAC Tournament semifinals. After starting conference play 0-3, the Timberwolves went 10-5 the rest of the way in GLIAC play to finish in a tie for third in the North Division. Northwood then went on the road and posted a dramatic 72-71 win over No. 1 overall seed Ferris State in the opening round of the GLIAC Tournament.

The Timberwolves had a fabulous season in 2001-02 under Taylor. Picked to finish seventh in the GLIAC North in the preseason coaches poll, the Timberwolves finished the season with an 18-11 record and second place in the GLIAC North. In addition, Northwood finished second in the GLIAC Tournament. In the GLIAC Tournament, Northwood defeated Ashland and Findlay before dropping the finals to Michigan Tech. The Timberwolves also tied for ninth-best turnaround in Division II after winning seven games in 2000-01.

During the 1999-00 campaign, NU finished with a 15-13 mark and qualified for the GLIAC Tournament. Northwood reached the semifinals and lost by one point to eventual champion Michigan Tech.

In 1998-99, Northwood enjoyed its first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament. Northwood posted the team’s first-ever 20 win season (21-7), and was nationally-ranked for the first time. The team peaked at 16th and won a second straight GLIAC North Championship.

Taylor's squad tied the school mark with a seven-game winning streak and earned a bid in the GLIAC Tournament for the third straight season. The high scoring Timberwolves were among the NCAA leaders in scoring offense (21st with an 83.3 per game average), field goal percentage (27th at .478), three-pointers made (5th at 10.1 per game) and three-point percentage (10th at .411).

The tremendous 1998-99 season came on the heels of a 19-8 year in 1997-98, when the Timberwolves won the GLIAC North Division for the first time. The 19 wins tied the school record, which was broken in 1998-99.

Prior to joining the Northwood staff, Taylor accrued more than 300 career wins as an NCAA II women's basketball head coach at Lake Superior State University (LSSU) and then at Oakland University (OU).

A native of Sparta, Michigan, Taylor spent two years at Grand Rapids Junior College before transferring to Arkansas Tech, where he earned his bachelor's degree in social science in 1980. At both schools, Taylor lettered in tennis and basketball twice. Taylor began his coaching career as an assistant at Arkansas Tech.

Taylor was head coach at Boyne City High School for two seasons, posting a 37-10 mark and leading the Ramblers to a top ten rating in Class C. He moved on to LSSU in 1982 as the men's assistant coach, then took over as women's head coach at LSSU the following year. He led the Lakers' women's team to a 52-32 record in three seasons there, culminating with a 24-5 mark in 1985-86. His team was the number one seed in the NCAA II Great Lakes Regional Tournament that year and the Lakers finished the season ranked seventh among all NCAA II teams.

Taylor took the women's head coaching job at Oakland University in 1986-87 and proceeded to run up a 251-72 record in 11 years, ten of them 20-win seasons. The Pioneers were the only team to finish in the top four in the Great Lakes Conference each of those 11 years, and won four league championships. OU reached the NCAA II Tournament six times under Taylor, including an Elite Eight appearance in 1994-95. His Oakland teams led NCAA II in three-pointers in three of Taylor's last four years at OU. He was voted the GLIAC Coach-of-the-Year in 1990 and 1994 and twice was selected the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan (BCAM) College Coach-of-the-Year. Taylor has been actively involved in camps for both men and women and is co-director of the Michigan All-State Basketball Camp in Traverse City.

Taylor and his wife, Kristen, reside in Midland. They have three children, Ellie, Maize, and R.J.

Justin Sherlock
Assistant Men's Basketball Coach

Justin Sherlock is in his first season as an assistant coach for the Northwood Men's Basketball team.  He replaced Sam Hargraves, who left to take a position at Hillsdale College.

 

Sherlock comes to Northwood from the IMG Basketball Academy in Sarasota, Florida, where he worked from 2006-07.  While at IMG, Sherlock worked as a player development specialist and as a head varsity basketball coach.  His team posted a record of 28-7 and featured two nationally ranked juniors in the 2008 class.  Sherlock trained players from more than 11 countries during his time in Florida.

 

Prior to IMG, Sherlock spent a pair of seasons at Cleveland State in a pair of roles.  During the 2004-05 season, Sherlock served as a Graduate Assistant.  In the 2005-06 season, he was appointed Director of Basketball Operations.  Sherlock was heavily involved in numerous parts of the program while a Viking. 

 

As a player at Rochester College, Sherlock was named the Most Valuable Player at USCAA National Tournament, an event in which the Warriors were crowned national champions.  A co-caption from 2002-04, he was named Most Valuable Teammate in 2003 and 2004. 

 

Sherlock earned his bachelors degree in Communication from Rochester in May of 2004.  He is currently working towards his master’s degree in Education.

 

Michael Thomas
Assistant Men's Basketball Coach

 

Michael Thomas is in his second season as a graduate assistant for Northwood.

 

Prior to his arrival at Northwood, Thomas spent 2005-06 in the Saginaw School District.  He went 16-2 overall record in his lone season in charge of the Saginaw High School junior varsity program.   Thomas also coached the South Middle School seventh and eighth grade teams for a pair of seasons, guiding them to a city championship in 2006.

 

Thomas is a graduate of Albion College, where he earned four varsity letters.  A three-time First Team All-MIAA, he was a captain of the team from 2002-05.  He ranks second in school history with 1,389 points.  He was a part of two MIAA Championship teams and earned Second Team All Great Lakes region honors in 2005.

 

Thomas is currently enrolled in the MBA Program at the Richard DeVos School of Management.