Iowa City High girls’ basketball coach Bill McTaggart picks up 500th career win

CEDAR RAPIDS — The first game of the season was a milestone win for Bill McTaggart.

Iowa City High topped Cedar Rapids Jefferson, 70-52, in a Mississippi Valley Conference girls’ basketball encounter Friday night at Jefferson. The triumph was McTaggart’s 500th of his career.

McTaggart is beginning his 23rd year as City’s girls’ basketball coach, a career that has produced a 384-124 mark.

He previously served as a boys’ coach in Texas for six seasons; his total record is 500-186.

City (1-0, 1-0 MVC) jumped to a 22-11 lead after one quarter. It was an eight-point game after three periods before the Little Hawks pulled away.

McTaggart led the Little Hawks to a state championship in 2008. His City teams have won 12 MVC titles, including seven in a row between 2014 and 2020.

Thirty-eight girls basketball coaches in Iowa have won 500 games.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com