Celeste Taylor and Caitlin Clark battled it out in the Big Ten this past season but will now team up on the Indiana Fever after Monday night.
The Fever took Clark with the No. 1 pick and led off their second round with Taylor at No. 15 overall. The two guards were in Iowa and Ohio State uniforms this season, respectively.
But Taylor no longer has to guard the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer. Just in practice!
“I mean, she’s a terrific player,” Taylor said to ESPN’s Holly Rowe. “Terrific. You know, it’s hard to guard her. We tried our best but to now be teammates and trying to get after it and work hard in training camp. I mean, I’m excited. It’s taking me back to when we played together at USA but I mean, it’s gonna be amazing.”
Before becoming a pro, Taylor played the 2023-24 season at Ohio State, where she helped the Buckeyes to a Big Ten regular season championship alongside other star players Jacy Sheldon, Cotie McMahon and Taylor Thierry. OSU also won a couple of games in the NCAA Tournament but ultimately fell in the Sweet 16.
“I mean, I just take a lot of pride in the journey,” Taylor said on draft night. “It’s definitely a long road. My parents, you know, having them as my backbone to continue to support me every single stop. It was hard. But just knowing that they had my back. It helped me.”
Prior to her fifth and final year with the Buckeyes, Taylor had previously split her years at Texas and Duke. She attended Texas out of high school and started 26 of 30 games as a true freshman, averaging 9.3 points.
Taylor was certainly a veteran of the college game and departs after playing 146 total games. Even crazier, she started a whopping 139 of those, including 77 out of a possible 78 over her final three seasons. Her new team is getting a dependable player, plus a winner and a great defender. Taylor may never be a superstar, but she can be what she’s always been, a perfect secondary player and elite defensive presence on any team in the league.
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