MCC names Taylor Shaffer as Men’s Basketball Coach

A former Region IX championship men's basketball player and former Region IX Women's Coach of the year has been named McCook Community College's next men's basketball coach.

At a news conference Wednesday, Taylor Shaffer was introduced as MCC's new men's coach. Shaffer led Otero College to the NJCAA Elite Eight as a player and earned top coaching honors for the Otero women's team. He spent the past four years as a men's coach at Neosho County Community College in Chanute, Kansas.

"We are excited to have Taylor as our new Men's basketball coach," said MCC Athletic Director Jon Olsen, who introduced Shaffer to media, staff and community members at the introductory news conference held at MCC's East Campus.

"He brings a lot of experience to our program both as a head coach – having been a head junior college coach – as well as experience in the region as a player, a coach, and as a Division II assistant in the Midwest that recruited Region IX heavily," said Olsen.

Shaffer takes over for Dillon Hargrove who left MCC after two years to take the head coaching job at Missouri State University-West Plains.

"I think McCook is a sleeping giant in the JUCO landscape," said Shaffer. "MCC has everything in place you need to win – it's one of the best facilities in the region, it's funded well enough to win and there is a lot of pride and support of the college from the community."

He knows about McCook's support first-hand. He experienced it when he dressed in a Rattler uniform in True Hall in 2010 and 2011 and also from the opponent's bench at the Peter and Dolores Graff Events Center when he coached the Lady Rattlers in 2016-18.

"We always hated coming to McCook because it was such a hard place to play," he recalls.

Shaffer spent the past four seasons at Neosho County Community College, a Division 2 program. His teams went 53-67 in his tenure, but he also led the Panthers to the school's only two winning seasons in the past 10 years.

Before Neosho County, Shaffer spent one season as an assistant coach at Adams State University, an NCAA Division II school. He also spent two seasons as a graduate assistant at Chadron State College.

"We are excited to have Coach Shaffer join our MCC family. His work ethic and positive perspective impressed us all," said Kelly K. Rippen, Vice President of MCC/Student Services "We are excited for an awesome season."

Before moving to the men's side, Coach Shaffer spent one year coaching in China for the United State Basketball Academy, and two years as the Head Women's Coach at Otero. During his two years as a head coach for the Lady Rattlers Shaffer earned the 2017 Region IX South coach of the year and coached four players to All-Region honors.

The Pagosa Springs, Colo. native spent two seasons at Otero Junior College, and was a member of the 2012 Region IX championship team. After his two seasons, at Otero, Shaffer transferred to Colorado Mesa University where he finished his playing career. Shaffer graduated from Colorado Mesa University in 2016, and earned his master's degree from Chadron State College in 2021.

The coach said that Neosho County is a school that has been traditionally tough to win at, because of a lack of resources.

"I think this forces coaches to learn how to do more with less and learn how to outwork their opponents," Shaffer said. "Because of this, Neosho County has a proven track record for producing coaches who have moved on and experienced great success."

Despite taking over the MCC program in mid-June, Shaffer said he's pretty pleased with the team he has recruited so far.

"We have 10 guys so far, nine on scholarships, and looking to lock in two or three more this week," he said.

He's also working on building the 2026-27 schedule.

"Through the interview process we just kept becoming more impressed with Taylor as we spent time with him, and it became clear that he moved to the top of our list fairly quick, we are excited to watch him get started," said Olsen.

Shaffer's first-year goals at MCC include having a winning record, building relationships across campus and strengthening ties in the community as well as producing a style of basketball that is exciting to be around.

"I'm a defense-first coach," he said. "We want to dictate with our defense and extreme ball pressure. Everything we do begins on the defensive end and we will recruit players who have this mentality," he said. "We want to be a team that is known for their suffocating man-to-man defense."

In his time in Kansas, the Panthers finished No. 9 in the nation in points-allowed per game and set school records in that category.

He said if a player meets his defensive expectations, he will give them freedom offensively.

"We want to allow our guys to play fast and free and be in a system that they enjoy," said Shaffer.

The coach is looking to build a culture where "nobody will every out-tough us, nobody will ever out-prepare us, and nobody will ever be a better team," he said. "Our entire culture is built on a brotherhood in which individuals put the team first and sacrifice for the betterment of the team."

In addition to his coaching duties, Shaffer will also work for the college as a Retention Specialist, which he said he is looking forward to, because so much of that job lines up with his academic expectations for his players.

His goal is to graduate all sophomores and retain all freshmen and to have a team GPA of 2.8 or higher. He's looking for players to meet all his academic expectations including being in class on time every day, mandatory study tables and meeting with instructors.

He plans weekly class checks and regular grade checks of all student-athletes.

"I've always told my players to 'treat your education like a job.' You must be a student before an athlete," he said. "MCC has always had a strong tradition in the academic success of student-athletes and that tradition will not be compromised."

Shaffer and wife Rekeshia have a one-year old son, Kiyan.