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Celeste Taylor selected by the Indiana Fever in the WNBA Draft
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images
The former Buckeye transfer moved to the professional ranks Monday night in New York City
After the end of the 22/23 season, guard Celeste Taylor traded in Duke Blue Devils blue for the scarlet and gray of Ohio State women’s basketball. In one season, Taylor completed an impressive five-year NCAA career. On Monday night, she moved on to the pros, being selected by the Indiana Fever with the No. 15 pick.
With Taylor’s selection, she becomes the 19th Buckeye chosen in a WNBA college draft. Also, with former teammate, guard Jacy Sheldon, coming off the board earlier in the night, becomes the third pair in program history selected in the same draft.
Initially recruited by head coach Kevin McGuff out of high school, Taylor opted to go to the University of Texas, followed by a two-year spell with the Duke Blue Devils, before coming to Ohio State.
After winning the ACC Defensive Player of the Year award in her final year at Duke, Taylor continued the trend by earning the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honor. In one season with the Buckeyes, Taylor led the conference in defensive rating (82.4), steals (80) and steals per game (2.8).
All of that bodes well for a league that benefits those who can defend, but feedback received about Taylor from coaches and scouts is on the offensive side of the ball.
Taylor averaged 10.8 points in her NCAA career, but showed improvement year-over-year. The 23/24 season is a good representation of that growth. In 32 games, Taylor had her best shooting percentage as a college player, hitting 40.9% of her shots.
Look into the lone season with the Buckeyes and Taylor started off slow, offensively. While still learning the system, Taylor averaged 7.3 points per game up until Dec. 22. Then, in the final 22 games of the season, Taylor increased her scoring to 11.6 points per game, and added deep shooting to the mix, hitting 1.6 shots from beyond the arc per game.
That offensive work continued after the season, with hopes of making one of the 12 WNBA rosters, which isn’t easy to accomplish. Each team only has room for 12 players.
If a player doesn’t make their drafted team though, it’s not the end of their WNBA careers. Each season, draftees don’t make their teams, get waived and then picked up by another side.
Last season, the Indiana Fever selected another Buckeye, shooting guard Taylor Mikesell, with the first pick of the second round. Mikesell didn’t make the Fever out of training camp, but got signed by the Atlanta Dream off the waiver wire. Mikesell had six appearances for the Dream, averaging 4.8 minutes per appearance before being waived by Atlanta.
The duo of Sheldon and Taylor are the third pair of Buckeyes to get drafted in the same year and the first time since 2018. That was when guard Kelsey Mitchell and forward Stephanie Mavunga were taken off the board.
Taylor joins No. 1 overall pick Caitlin Clark in Indiana. It’s also the second season in a row that a Buckeye was drafted by the Fever. Last year, guard Taylor Mikesell went to the Fever with the first pick in the second round.
Continue reading...
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images
The former Buckeye transfer moved to the professional ranks Monday night in New York City
After the end of the 22/23 season, guard Celeste Taylor traded in Duke Blue Devils blue for the scarlet and gray of Ohio State women’s basketball. In one season, Taylor completed an impressive five-year NCAA career. On Monday night, she moved on to the pros, being selected by the Indiana Fever with the No. 15 pick.
With Taylor’s selection, she becomes the 19th Buckeye chosen in a WNBA college draft. Also, with former teammate, guard Jacy Sheldon, coming off the board earlier in the night, becomes the third pair in program history selected in the same draft.
Initially recruited by head coach Kevin McGuff out of high school, Taylor opted to go to the University of Texas, followed by a two-year spell with the Duke Blue Devils, before coming to Ohio State.
After winning the ACC Defensive Player of the Year award in her final year at Duke, Taylor continued the trend by earning the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honor. In one season with the Buckeyes, Taylor led the conference in defensive rating (82.4), steals (80) and steals per game (2.8).
All of that bodes well for a league that benefits those who can defend, but feedback received about Taylor from coaches and scouts is on the offensive side of the ball.
Taylor averaged 10.8 points in her NCAA career, but showed improvement year-over-year. The 23/24 season is a good representation of that growth. In 32 games, Taylor had her best shooting percentage as a college player, hitting 40.9% of her shots.
Look into the lone season with the Buckeyes and Taylor started off slow, offensively. While still learning the system, Taylor averaged 7.3 points per game up until Dec. 22. Then, in the final 22 games of the season, Taylor increased her scoring to 11.6 points per game, and added deep shooting to the mix, hitting 1.6 shots from beyond the arc per game.
That offensive work continued after the season, with hopes of making one of the 12 WNBA rosters, which isn’t easy to accomplish. Each team only has room for 12 players.
If a player doesn’t make their drafted team though, it’s not the end of their WNBA careers. Each season, draftees don’t make their teams, get waived and then picked up by another side.
Last season, the Indiana Fever selected another Buckeye, shooting guard Taylor Mikesell, with the first pick of the second round. Mikesell didn’t make the Fever out of training camp, but got signed by the Atlanta Dream off the waiver wire. Mikesell had six appearances for the Dream, averaging 4.8 minutes per appearance before being waived by Atlanta.
The duo of Sheldon and Taylor are the third pair of Buckeyes to get drafted in the same year and the first time since 2018. That was when guard Kelsey Mitchell and forward Stephanie Mavunga were taken off the board.
Taylor joins No. 1 overall pick Caitlin Clark in Indiana. It’s also the second season in a row that a Buckeye was drafted by the Fever. Last year, guard Taylor Mikesell went to the Fever with the first pick in the second round.
Continue reading...