Former Ohio State guard Celeste Taylor was selected with the No. 15 overall pick by the Indiana Fever in the 2024 WNBA Draft on Monday, joining top overall selection Caitlin Clark.
“She’s a terrific player,” Taylor said of Clark on ESPN after being drafted. “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’m excited. It’s taking me back to when we played together at (Team) USA. It’s going to be amazing.”
Taylor recently completed her first season at Ohio State after spending two years at Texas out of high school and then two seasons at Duke. In her lone outing with the Buckeyes, she averaged 10.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.5 steals per game.
While Taylor turned into an offensive weapon by the end of her time at Ohio State, her impact was best felt on the defensive end of the court, where was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in addition to earning second-team All-Big Ten honors. She also won ACC Defensive Player of the Year as a senior, and stands a good shot to make a roster at the professional level as the WNBA places a premium on defense for those on the roster bubble.
“With Celeste, obviously, she’s got a reputation as an incredible defender. Well deserved,” Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said. “People are really excited about what she can do at that end of the floor. The feedback heading into the season was a little more consistent offensive production, and as the season got into January, February, you started to see that. She really helped herself.”
She becomes the 18th Buckeye to hear their name called in the draft, and joins fellow guard Jacy Sheldon, who was taken fifth overall by the Dallas Wings. This is just the third time Ohio State has had at least two players taken in the same draft.
