Finally at Ohio State, Celeste Taylor aiming for one big season with the Buckeyes
This wasn’t the first time Ohio State had come calling for Celeste Taylor.
Twice before, women’s basketball coach Kevin McGuff had tried to land the top-10 national recruit in the class of 2019. The first time, Taylor chose the University of Texas, where she played two seasons and reached an Elite Eight in 2021. The second time, Taylor picked Duke, where she played two more seasons and established herself as one of the nation’s elite defenders.
But with one more year of eligibility and her eyes on something bigger, the third time was the charm for Taylor and Ohio State.
“Everything happens for a reason and the timing is not my timing, it’s God’s timing,” Taylor said Tuesday afternoon shortly before her first official practice with the Buckeyes. “Throughout the whole process, it just was the perfect fit at this time. They’ve had a lot of success throughout the years. It was a lot of transferring but I’m grateful that I went through everything that I went through, trying to build a program, trying to learn from different coaches to help me grow as a player. I’m really happy about my decision.”
So, too, is McGuff, who views the New York native as one of the keys to shoring up one of his two primary points of emphasis for the 2023-24 Buckeyes. As Ohio State aims for its first Final Four – or more – since reaching the title game in 1992-93, McGuff wants to see his players rebound at a higher level and play stickier half-court defense.
Adding the 5-11 Taylor, the ACC’s defensive player of the year and a finalist for the Naismith Women's Defensive Player of the Year award last season, could go a long way toward addressing that second point.
“I’ve seen her since she was in high school and AAU and certainly had been very aware of her success, most recently at Duke,” he said. “I thought she’d be a great fit. As we looked to round out the team, that was a high priority for us. We were able to reach out to her, get her on a visit and get it done. That was a real big moment for us.”
McGuff compared her recruitment to that of Taylor Mikesell, an Ohio product who played at Maryland for two years and then at Oregon for one before arriving at Ohio State in 2021. Once both players entered the transfer portal for a third time, McGuff said the familiarity borne out of two prior recruitments allowed the Buckeyes to quickly zero in on Mikesell and now Taylor.
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In this case, McGuff said they knew Taylor wanted to play on a great team and that she has professional aspirations. To get there, McGuff said the Buckeyes can give her more of an offensive role while also utilizing her defensive skills to enhance both their half-court defense and their full-court pressure.
“She probably needed a little bit of a different offensive system to showcase her ability a little bit more,” he said. “That was kind of the final piece in terms of what the fit would be like.”
In 114 games, Taylor has averaged 11.0 points while shooting 40.0% from the floor and 30.8% from 3-point range. On an Ohio State offense that will be replacing the prolific Mikesell, who attempted nearly one-fourth of the team’s shots (22.6%) during the last two seasons, Taylor said she views her role as being more of a distributor who can rack up assists.
Some of that will come from playing in Ohio State’s pressure defense, something Taylor said she enjoyed doing during her final season with the Longhorns.
“We have very, very versatile guards,” she said. “All the way down the line you have people that you can move in multiple positions, especially in the press. It’s going to be really fun, running around, getting steals, getting deflections and just having fun.”
It’s an experience Taylor, McGuff and Ohio State have been waiting for. Now the task is to turn those projections to reality.
“She’s just made steady progress over her career,” the coach said. “I’m hopeful we can help her take a big step, especially offensively and how we play, highlighting those abilities because I think it’s there. She’s consistently gotten better.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Third time was the charm for Ohio State, transfer guard Celeste Taylor
