Around the Sun

Connecticut Sun Executive Darius Taylor Loves the Game

By Anthony Price 

Darius Taylor, Chief Basketball Strategist & Director of Scouting, Connecticut Sun Photo: Anthony Price

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​Basketball is Darius Taylor’s business. He’s the Chief Basketball Strategist and Director of Scouting for the Connecticut Sun. Always on the move, Taylor travels from one destination to the next, his essentials packed into a large gold Tumi suitcase and a carry-on bag marked with the initials JCT—his wife’s.

On a Tuesday afternoon in College Station, Texas, Taylor is home, preparing to leave his wife, Joni Taylor—head coach of the women’s basketball program at Texas A&M—and their two young daughters. On Friday, he’ll head back to Uncasville, Connecticut, home of the Sun. 
 
His focus is on training camp, which begins Sunday, April 27. The Sun have invited 21 players. Taylor won’t be dribbling a ball or running sprints, but his insights will be critical in shaping the final 12-person roster, set to take the court under first-time WNBA head coach Rachid Meziane on May 18 at Mohegan Sun Arena. 

New Role 
 
The Sun have been playoff regulars for four straight seasons and reached the Finals in 2022, falling to the Las Vegas Aces, 3-1. 
 
Now? The franchise is in full “reset” mode. Five starters from last year’s 23-win squad are gone. So are the general manager—a role Taylor held from November 2022 to December 2024—and head coach Stephanie White, who jumped ship to lead the Indiana Fever. 

A man of action choosing his words like a chef picking the freshest ingredients.

Sun head coach Rachid Meziane, training camp, Sunday, April 27, 2925 Photo: Anthony Price

Taylor remains a vital link to the Sun’s winning era. A man of action choosing his words like a chef picking the freshest ingredients. His face? It gives away nothing. 
 
As the former GM, Taylor has traded decision-making power for the art of influence. He moves like a diplomat, building consensus with Sun President Jennifer Rizzotti, new GM Morgan Tuck, coaches and staff. 
 
Taylor is a relationship builder. He wields soft power, knowing how to earn trust and have open conversations with players, agents, coaches and the GM.  
 
His new job is split into two: Chief Basketball Strategist and Director of Scouting. As strategist, he focuses on roster construction—identifying and acquiring players the team needs through the draft, free agency or trades. 
 
As scouting director, he gathers intelligence and evaluates players wherever they are. Another key responsibility is scouting upcoming opponents and sharing insights with the coaching staff. 

Maize and Blue
 
At 6-foot-4, with a stocky frame and a blank expression, Chicago native Darius Taylor played basketball at the University of Michigan on an academic scholarship in the late 1990s.  
 
Some of his teammates went on to the NBA, most notably Jamal Crawford, whose 20-year career included 19,419 points—and a killer crossover dribble that still racks up views on social media.  

My teammates loved me. 

During his time in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Taylor was a player favorite. “My teammates loved me,” he says—one of the rare times he mentions himself without putting the team first. 
 
Taylor’s degree was in Sports Management and Communications. Even then, he knew the NBA wasn’t in his future. But there was another way to the league: becoming a player’s agent.  
 
Before that door opened, he took a detour into coaching, stopping at USA Basketball, Temple University, the NBA Developmental League, the University of South Carolina and the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream. 
 
Along the way, Taylor built relationships with influential figures like South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley—connections that eventually led him to the Sun’s front office. 

Experience 
 
As the general manager, “you have to look at the big picture,” Taylor says—the big picture being a championship. 
 
The GM’s job, he explains, is to build a team “to compete at the highest level every day.” In basketball, “it starts with building a roster.” You want to compete with the “big dawgs!” 
 
Taylor’s been in the “war room” in a Sky Tower suite at Mohegan Sun on draft night. He’s executed big trades like bringing Marina Mabrey to the Sun.  And he prepared his successor, Morgan Tuck, for the GM role. 

Darius Taylor and Tina Charles, Sun Training Camp, Sunday, April 27, 2025 Photo: Anthony Price

​He managed staff, players, families, agents, the salary cap—everything that goes into creating a “player-first organization,” sports vernacular for making players feel like the top priority.
 
The WNBA is on an undeniable upswing, with more fans and money pouring in. But Connecticut faces its own hurdles:  it’s the league’s smallest market and still lacks a dedicated practice facility. 
 
“It’s not for everybody,” Taylor says of playing in Connecticut. But he sees it as a place where players can focus on their game without distractions. 

If you really, truly focus on basketball—and win—Connecticut is a place you can thrive.

Marina Mabrey, Sun training camp, April 27, 2025 Photo: Anthony Price

In the end, he says, “It’s about building things the right way again. That’s the ultimate goal.” And that may take time—and patience. 
 
For Taylor, basketball isn’t just a job. It’s life. Sometimes his two young daughters, ages 8 and 5—both budding players—will ask if he’s still watching basketball. His answer: always “yes.” 
 
“I watch basketball almost every day,” he says over the phone, as if it’s as essential as a daily vitamin. 
 
“It doesn’t feel like work,” he adds. It’s something I love. It’s something I’m passionate about. I love basketball.” 
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Anthony Price is an entrepreneur, author and publisher of CT Hoops Magazine. Around the Sun is a weekly column about the Connecticut Sun. ​