Adapting on the Fly: Celeste Taylor’s Ready to Make Her Mark in Year 2
The transition from college to the WNBA is a quicker process than just about any other sport. Right after the NCAA March Madness Tournament is the WNBA Draft in April, which leads right into training camp, and then the start of the season in May.
There’s no rest for the rookies – even after the season has ended.
Just ask Celeste Taylor.
After her rookie season, Taylor hopped on a plane and traveled from her home in New York to Sydney, Australia, to join the Sydney Flames of the WNBL (Women’s National Basketball League).
The distance: 9,929 miles. A far trip, for sure – especially for someone experiencing Australia for the first time.
But Taylor’s background has prepared her for this.
See, in her 2024 rookie season, Taylor’s path wasn’t straight or a one-stop shop. No, not at all. In fact, Taylor had stints with several teams like Indiana, Phoenix, Connecticut, and Phoenix again to end the season.
The distance between those four stops is 6,763 miles – a little over two-thirds of the distance to Australia.
Yeah, not your average rookie season.
“It’s definitely not the one [rookie season]that I expected, but it’s definitely something that has helped me in my journey,” Taylor said via a Zoom call. “Being in a different organization, I think one of the biggest things that I’ve learned along with college but it’s just the adaptability standpoint. Like, in the league, you know, people were even telling me, like, you have to be adaptable because you never know what can happen, especially in a league like this.”
It was hectic. Chaotic. Stressful. You pick the word – it’ll likely apply.
But the adversity she faced all season also opened up a door for Taylor that was closed in Indiana. In 15 games with the Fever, Taylor played just 15:49, finishing 1-of-1 from the field. A perfect field goal percentage for the No. 15 pick in the 2024 draft, but she was waived by Indiana at the end of June. Taylor ended up signing with the Phoenix Mercury on a seven-day contract and, as fate would have it, her first game for them was against Indiana.
“You know, I was not playing when I was with Indiana, and then I got to Phoenix, played Indiana my first game, and played 22 minutes,” Taylor said. “So I think just, like, having that adaptability piece is very, very important, and it’s key.”
Adaptability.
That’s the second time Taylor used that word while we were talking and it tracks. Taylor went from a seven-day contract with Phoenix to a seven-day contract with Connecticut, where she played two games before returning to Phoenix on another hardship contract.
Adaptability.
It’s what Taylor not only had to do in her rookie year but also in her collegiate career.
In college, Taylor played two years at Texas, two years at Duke, and then finished her collegiate career with Ohio State, forming a solid one-two punch with fellow 2024 rookie Jacy Sheldon.
“College was kinda similar for me, but I had got the opportunity to be there for quite some time, at least one or two years,” Taylor explained. “Before I got to the league, everybody kind of looked at as a negative of, like, a no loyalty standpoint or just all the negative things that come with being in the transfer portal. But for me, I think I automatically paid attention to all the positives that it gave me, being able to adjust, being able to learn a new system quickly, being able to connect with a whole bunch of different people, different fan bases, different coaching styles. Like, there’s just so many positive things that come into play with that.”
In case you’re keeping track, the distance between Austin, Durham, and Columbus is 1,767 miles.
From finding a home base in different cities to learning different styles and different coaching methods, Taylor attributes a lot of that to her journey in college.
“That adaptability standpoint has helped me out so much that I can adjust to the different people that are coaching me in the way that they coach me,” Taylor said. “I think for sure that, you know, it has made a huge impact in the way that I’m able to adapt in different places and throughout my career.”
The latest place to adapt for Taylor? Sydney, Australia.
Taylor is the latest player to join the long list of WNBA talent to play in Australia during the offseason. She said the players in the WNBL saw her as an “import” since she plays in the WNBA, is coming over to a new league and country, and is “someone who is a really good player because the WNBA is the best women’s basketball league in the world.”
She backed up that WNBA status with Sydney, finishing third on the team in points per game (10.7) behind Shaneice Swain and Cayla George. She played in 20 games before sitting out due to injury and needing to rest her foot.
And the solid rookie showing in Australia can be attributed to the extended run that Taylor received at the end of the season for the Mercury. During September, Taylor eclipsed the 20-minute mark in eight of 10 games, which is something she feels prepared her for the WNBL but also her second WNBA season.
“It was huge. I think that I also gave my teammates and my coaches a lot of confidence in practices, just by continuing to play hard, making the right reads,” Taylor said. “So it was, kinda nice just to see, like, a lot of what I do pay off.
“Starting on a team like that, for the four games that I did, it was great, and then just coming over here to Sydney and just realizing that I can kind of play a little bit more freely.”
Taylor’s confidence carried over, as did the playing freely aspect that she mentioned. She was attempting 4.4 perimeter shots per game in Sydney, which was on par for her final season at Duke and last season at Ohio State.
“It was a good first year overseas. I was just trying to get that confidence back, to be able to play 30 minutes a game, get that in-game shape feeling, and just trying to work on the things that I needed to work on during the off-season,” Taylor said. “The competition, I think it was pretty high up there. I think it has helped me progress as a player, and even as a person, honestly, being able to find that vocal leadership that I think I’ll need coming into this next WNBA season and just continue to grow my confidence.”
Recently, the Mercury organization announced the signing of Taylor to a training camp contract for the 2025 season. She has the potential to establish roots and consistency with a WNBA team now, and Phoenix still has a ton of veterans that can help guide her development. But there may be something to Taylor potentially taking on a more vocal leadership role. After all, Brittney Griner has moved on from Phoenix to Atlanta and Diana Taurasi officially announced her retirement.
So, Taylor will return to a familiar place, but she’ll have to adapt to not having familiar faces around.
“They [Griner and Taurasi] are great humans first off, and they were great teammates for me to have. With DT, she’s a competitor, and she’s obviously a phenomenal basketball player,” Taylor said. “I think one thing that sticks out to me is, after I had played a game, she had made a comment on just, like, me being able to make the right reads and being a hard worker, and continue to get after it.”
That quote that Taylor was talking about? It was after a game in August during Taylor’s second stint with the team:
It stood out to Taylor—but there was also another message Taylor received from Taurasi that had a big impact on her, as well.
“When I had left Phoenix the first time and went to Connecticut, DT had texted me and just said ‘I really feel like you belong here. You just gotta keep working, and you’ll find the right fit,’” Taylor shared. “For someone like her to say that to me, definitely gave me, one, a lot more confidence, but, two, I think just put me in a great space to be in and, you know, just continue to, go after what’s in front of me and continue to work hard.”
Before Taylor enters her second year in the WNBA, equipped with her experience in Australia and her time playing with now retired legend Taurasi last season, she’ll be heading back to her hometown in New York first to host the inaugural Celeste Taylor Camp for children 8-14 years old.
Taylor, who majored in psychology, said that she loves kids, and has wanted to be a child psychologist for a long time and eventually wants to go back to school to achieve that.
But until the ball stops bouncing and she leaves her playing career behind, this is the way that she’s giving back to the youth in her hometown.
“When I was in college and I got the chance to host the summer camps and be a part of the summer camps and coach the kids, you just see how much these kids look up to you and how much even the smallest hellos, taking a minute to just take a picture with them, letting them ask you what your favorite color is to them,” Taylor said.
“It should be a lot of fun just being able to connect with some of the younger kids, and it’s just taking me back to when I was younger and I was able to attend these camps and have the best times. Those are the things that I remember when I was younger playing basketball.”
After the inaugural day camp, it’s back to Phoenix for Taylor as she prepares for her second WNBA season with a roster full of new faces. The organization most recently acquired Alyssa Thomas, Satou Sabally, Kalani Brown, and Sami Whitcomb during 2025 WNBA Free Agency.
“I think it’s gonna be really fun. I got to play a little bit with Alyssa Thomas when I was with Connecticut, just a tad, but I definitely think she’s a great person,” Taylor said. Satou [Sabally], she was at the draft weekend with us last year, so I got to talk to her a little bit, which will be cool. They are such great players. I’m excited to see what Coach Nate [Tibbetts] has planned for us.”
And the list goes on, as Taylor played against Kalani Brown during her freshman year at Texas, and she’ll also be joined by the reigning WNBL MVP Sami Whitcomb, who signed with Phoenix this offseason.
2024 was filled with a lot of unknowns and a lot – a lot – of traveling for Taylor. But her main goal for 2025 shouldn’t surprise you.
She wants to adapt.
“I think I just kind of just focus on the present moment and just being very present and just trying to be the best person that I am, the best teammate, the best player that I can be,” Taylor said. “I think for basketball-wise, I mean, just taking a step up from last year and, being more of an aggressor on the offensive end and being tenacious, a tenacious defender, and just continuing to be in the right places and do the things that my team needs me to do, with whatever team that I’m on, and whoever’s around me.”
The post Adapting on the Fly: Celeste Taylor’s Ready to Make Her Mark in Year 2 appeared first on Winsidr.
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