ratiopharm Ulm head coach Mike Taylor returns for his 2nd season at the helm of one of the most traditional organizations in German Basketball.  After guiding Ulm to a 28-5 overall record in 2003-2004, Mike T recruited well this offseason strengthening a quality roster with key additions of Niki Arinze, Kenny Price and Antoine Sinclair.  Working well with Ulm GM Thomas Stoll, ratiopharm Ulm is poised for another outstanding season and has their sights set on earning a ticket to the German Bundesliga.  Quickly making a name for himself in Europe, Mike T writes for Eurobasket and has been featured as a guest analyst for SKY SPORTS NBA telecasts.  The 32 year old Taylor has packed hundreds of games into his first four seasons as a professional basketball coach.  Entering 2004-2005 Taylor owns an impressive 50-9 career record as a head coach in Germany.  This past summer he worked as an assistant coach for the Kansas Cagerz in the USBL helping Head Coach Francis Flax set a franchise record perfect 15-0 mark at home.  Overall, the Cagerz finished 20-10 for the 2004 season with Taylor concentrating on player development, video breakdown and assisting with bench coaching --- he also served as interim head coach for Cagerz games against WestChester and Pennsylvania on the teams east coast road trip.  Before signing with Ulm, Mike T served as the head coach for the DG Essex Leopards Kool Cats in the British Basketball League --- unfortunately, the team folded after the 2002-2003 season.  In the summer of 2002, Taylor worked as the top assistant coach for the USBL's Dodge City Legend where he coached under former NBA forward Cliff Levingston.  While working with the Legend, Mike T coached fomer NBA players Jimmy King and Oliver Miller as well as former KU star Kenny Gregory.  Late in the season, Taylor took over as interim head coach for the Legend gaining good experience earning a road win over the St Louis Skyhawks in the process.  Prior to his post with the Legend, Taylor guided BV Chemnitz 99 to a Regionaliga Championship rebuilding a 10-12 team into a 23-4 power and earning a ticket to 2.Bundesliga basketball for the 99ers.  Mike T worked as a college assistant for 6 seasons before moving to professional basketball working as a graduate assistant at Clarion University (1996-1998) under Ron Righter, a second assistant at his alma mater IUP (1998-2000) for Gary Edwards and as top assistant at Pitt State (2001-2002) under Gene Iba.  Taylor coached touring all star teams for Planet Basketball as an assistant coach in 1999 to Venezuala and as a head coach in 2000 traveling to Finland and Czech Republic.  A 3 year captain at IUP, Mike T played for former Drake head coach and current Penn State assistant Kurt Kanaskie helping the Indians win back to back east region titles making consecutive Division II elite eight appearances.  A coaches son, Mike attributes much of his coaching success to the influence of his father, Dick Taylor a former head coach at Clarion University and Lock Haven University in Pennsylvania as well as NBA assistant and scout --- the elder Taylor also worked under legendary Bob Knight at Army.    Off the floor, Mike enjoys weight training and conditioning, computers and drawing.  He follows major American spots avidly and absolutely LOVES Ulm!