JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman coach Randy Wylie announced on Saturday that Taylor Kilgore will join the men's golf team for the 2021-22 campaign.

Kilgore comes from a strong Carson-Newman bloodline that includes grandfather David Barger, a 1970 C-N alumnus who joined the Athletic Department as the Director of Athletic Promotions in 1980 before serving as Athletic Director from 1990-2012. He was inducted into the South Atlantic Conference Hall of Fame in 2013.

"Very excited to have someone with those great Carson-Newman bloodlines coming to play for our program," Carson-Newman coach Randy Wylie said. "He's a very talented player who has great technique, great length and is very competitive. I expect him to come in and contribute, hopefully as a freshman."

The Kingsport, Tenn. native has had quite the career at Dobyns-Bennett High School, especially during 2020. He landed in the top 3 of the High School Pre-Season Mike Mills Invitational at The Country Club in Morristown with a 1-over 73. He led the Indians to both a Conference and District Tournament title after finishing at third in both events with performances of an even 70 and 3-over 75, respectively. The 2020 Region 1 Tournament also brought another team title that was spurred on but his 2 under 70 that was good enough for second-place. He won the Tri-Cities Junior Amateur this year, as well, while leading Michael Kilgore's Indians team to an eighth-place finish at the Tennessee Large School State Tournament.

In the 2020 season, Kilgore held a nine-hole average of 36.65 and an 18-hole average of 73.33. His postseason average reached 73.4 while his overall overage sat at 73.30 with 10 rounds at even par or better.

Individually, Kilgore was tabbed a three-time Big 11 All-Conference team selection. He added on Region 1 All-Region team honors in both 2019 and 2020.

"For all athletes,  it's a big step going from junior sports to playing collegiate sports," Wylie said, "but he's a really talented young man with a lot of good things about his game that I think he help him make that transition nicely in his freshman year."

In the classroom, he wits in the top 8% of his graduating class with a 3.95 GPA. He is also a member of the National Beta Club and Dobyns-Benner National Honor Society.

Kilgore continues the C-N legacy of student-athletes in his family. His father, Matt, played baseball for the Eagles and was a first-team All-SAC selection in 1996 as a catcher. Three of his uncles also hold connections to C-N – Paul and Philip Barger were members of the baseball and spirit teams, respectively, while Joe Dobyns played basketball.

Carson-Newman has made it to the NCAA Southeast Regional Tournaments in each of the past four seasons with at least two Eagles named to All-SAC teams for each of the past five seasons.