Taylor Coppenrath

Taylor Burton Coppenrath (born November 8, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player.

Taylor Coppenrath
Personal information
Born (1981-11-08) November 8, 1981
Barnet, Vermont
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight250 lb (113 kg)
Career information
High schoolSt. Johnsbury Academy
(St. Johnsbury, Vermont)
CollegeVermont (2001–2005)
NBA draft2005 / Undrafted
Playing career2005–2015
PositionCenter
Number22
Career history
2005–2006AEK Athens
2006–2007Pallacanestro Biella
2007–2009Lucentum Alicante
2009–2010Club Melilla Baloncesto
2010–2011CB Murcia
2011–2012Menorca Bàsquet
2012–2013Lucentum Alicante
2013–2015Ford Burgos
Career highlights and awards

Early life

Coppenrath went to high school at St. Johnsbury Academy where he did not play for the varsity basketball team until his junior year.[1] However, he went on to be the 2000 Vermont Player of the Year by Gatorade, the Burlington Free Press and USA Today.[2]

College career

Coppenrath played at University of Vermont from 2001 to 2005. After his redshirt freshman year, he led UVM to three straight America East Conference titles. At the end of his college career, he was Vermont's second all-time leading scorer in total points (2,442) and points per game (21.4). He also ranks the university's all-time leader in field goals made (851), is fifth all-time in rebounding (839) and blocked shots (83). He is one of two players along with Reggie Lewis, to win three America East Conference Player of the Year awards.[3] Coppenrath also matched a record held by Vin Baker with 14 America East Player of the Week awards.[3]

During his junior year, Coppenrath and the Catamounts were in contention for the America East regular season championship when he discovered that his wrist was broken following a loss to Boston University.[4] BU went on to win the regular season crown, but Coppenrath led Vermont over Maine in the conference title game to send UVM to the NCAA tournament. The title game, which was held at UVM's Patrick Gym and televised nationally, was Coppenrath's first game back from the wrist injury.[5] Playing with his wrist wrapped, Coppenrath delivered a 43-point performance[5] and captured the Reggie Lewis Award as the most outstanding player of the conference tournament despite playing only one game in the tourney.[3]

In his senior year, Coppenrath was a finalist for many national awards, including the John Wooden Award for National Player of the Year, the only finalist ever from the America East. That season (2004–2005) was the most successful in Vermont men's basketball history. After capturing the Conference title, the team defeated Syracuse University for its first NCAA Tournament victory ever. Coppenrath scored 16 points in the game.[6]

On October 26, 2019, Coppenrath’s number 22 jersey was retired by the University of Vermont, on the same night former teammate T. J. Sorrentine’s number 11 was also retired.[7]

Professional career

After playing with the Boston Celtics Summer League team in 2005, Coppenrath signed with AEK Athens B.C. in Greece for the 2005–06 season. After completing his first season abroad, he played with the Indiana Pacers during Summer League before signing with Pallacanestro Biella in Italian Serie A.

In 2007, Coppenrath signed with CB Lucentum Alicante in the Spanish LEB Oro, where he stayed from 2007 to 2009.[8] It was in Spain where the forward has played the rest of his career thus far, with both Melilla Baloncesto in 2009–10, CB Murcia in 2010–11, Menorca Bàsquet in 2011–12, returning to Alicante for the 2012–13 season, where he again helped the team earn promotion to Liga ACB. For the 2013–14 season, Coppenrath signed with Ford Burgos.,[9] where he was selected in the All-LEB Oro Team after the 2014–15 season.[10]

In August 2015, Coppenrath announced his retirement after helping teams achieve five promotions to Liga ACB in six seasons.[11]

Coaching career

Coppenrath returned to his alma mater, St. Johnsbury Academy where he served as an assistant coach for the boy's basketball team in addition to teaching math. On July 26, 2017, Coppenrath was announced as the head girls basketball coach at Missisquoi Valley Union Middle/High School in Swanton, Vermont, where he will also serve as a math teacher.[12]

Euroleague statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season. He also played in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2005–06 AEK Athens 131328.6.495.000.7893.6.51.0.411.110.9
Career 131328.6.495.000.7893.6.51.0.411.110.9

References
  1. Lieber, Jill (2004-11-04). "Vermont coach Brennan happy on air, on court". USA Today. Retrieved 2010-07-06.
  2. "Men's Basketball: University of Vermont". University of Vermont. Retrieved 2010-07-06.
  3. "Prospect Profile: Taylor Coppenrath". National Basketball Association. Retrieved 2010-07-06.
  4. "Vermont's Coppenrath likely to miss rest of season". USA Today. Associated Press. 2004-02-17. Retrieved 2010-07-06.
  5. Neff, Andrew (2004-03-15). "Coppenrath gets 43 as Cats stop Bears". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved 2010-07-06.
  6. "Vermont finds a slipper that fits, tops 'Cuse". NBC Sports. Associated Press. 2005-03-19. Archived from the original on 2008-12-08. Retrieved 2010-07-06.
  7. Abrami, Alex (October 26, 2019). "'This is surreal:' One more time, Coppenrath and Sorrentine fill Patrick Gym". Burlington Free Press. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
  8. Terrien, Meg (2009-08-22). "Coppenrath Signs With Spanish Pro Team". WCAX-TV. Archived from the original on 2009-10-29. Retrieved 2010-07-06.
  9. Burgos, Diario de. "Taylor Coppenrath, muy cerca de fichar por Autocid Ford".
  10. Quinteto ideal 2014/15: La confirmación de los históricos Archived 2015-06-16 at the Wayback Machine; FEB.es, 12 June 2015
  11. "Coppenrath retires from professional basketball".
  12. "MVU nets former UVM star".
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