MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – The University of Minnesota men’s basketball program is mourning the loss of one of its own on Thursday.

Corky Taylor, who played for the Gophers from 1970 to 1973, died Thursday due to complications from lung cancer. He was 60 years old.

“We are so saddened by the loss of Corky Taylor,” said Gophe basketball coach Tubby Smith. “I had the opportunity to get to know him over the last five years. He was as nice of a man that I have met since coming to the University of Minnesota and certainly a Gopher through and through.”

Taylor was a three-year letter-winner for the Gophers and member of the 1971-72 team that captured the Big Ten Championship.