Celeste Taylor

Photo by: Ohio State Athletics

Height:
5-11
Year:
Graduate Student
Hometown:
Valley Stream, N.Y.
Last School:
Duke
High School:
Long Island Lutheran

CAREER HONORS:

Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Finalist
2024 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year (coaches)
All-Big Ten Second Team (coaches, media)
All-Big Ten Defensive Team (coaches, media)
2024 Watch Lists: Naismith Trophy (preseason), Ann Meyers Drysdale (preseason)
ESPN Player of the Week: Feb. 26, 2024
Big Ten Player of the Week: Dec. 4, 2023
Big Ten Weekly Honor Roll: Feb. 26, 2024
2024 OSU Scholar Athlete
2022-23 ACC Defensive Player of the Year
2022-23 All-ACC First Team
2022-23 ACC All-Defensive Team
2022-23 All-ACC Academic Team
2022-23 Naismith Women’s Defensive Player of the Year Award Finalist
2022-23 AP Honorable Mention All-American
WBCA NCAA Division I Coaches' All-America Region Finalist
2022-23 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Preseason Watch List
2021-22 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Watch List - Top Shooting Guard
ACC Newcomer Watch List (2021-22)
All-ACC Academic Team (2021-22)
Three-time USA Basketball Gold Medalist
All-Big 12 Freshman Team (2019-20)
Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll (Fall 2019, Spring 2020)
McDonald’s All-American (2019)
Jordan Brand All-American (2019)
Selected 15^th overall in the 2024 WNBA Draft by the Indiana Fever

2023-24 | AT OHIO STATE

Started all 32 games
Big Ten rankings: 1^st in steals (2.5 spg), 9^th in blocks (0.9 bpg), 13^th in assists (3.4 apg)
Averaged 10.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.5 steals per game
Scored in double figures in 18 games this season, including a season-high 20 points against Michigan State (2/11) and Maryland (2/25)
Pulled down a season-high 12 rebounds, adding 15 points against Tennessee (12/3) for her first double-double as a Buckeye
Also recorded a double-double (13p/11r) against Penn State (12/10)
Had a career-high five blocks against Michigan State (1/14)
Recorded a season-high seven steals against Penn State (2/22)

2022-23 | AT DUKE

Started all 33 games for the Blue Devils
Set the Duke NCAA Tournament record for steals with 10 thefts against Colorado (March 20)
Led the team in scoring (11.4), total steals (72) and steals per game (2.2) – the latter two No. 3 in the ACC. Also ranked second in assists (2.5) and tied for second in rebounds (4.8)
Tallied two-plus steals in 17 games, including nine games with three or more thefts and four games with at least five takeaways
Reached double figures in 20 games, including a pair of 20-plus point outings in the season sweep of NC State
Notched a double-double against Texas A&M with 14 points and 10 rebounds
Tallied 18 points, four assists and six steals against Oregon State (Nov. 27)
Eclipsed the 1,000-career point mark in the win at Florida Gulf Coast (Dec. 11) with 14 points, also adding five steals, four rebounds and three blocks
Poured in a season-high 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds at NC State (Dec. 29)
Registered 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists at Notre Dame (Feb. 5)
Chipped in eight points, a career-high eight dimes and snatched a season-best 12 rebounds at Virginia (Feb. 19)
Scored 21 points while adding six rebounds and five assists versus (Feb. 23)
Added 13 points and five rebounds against Iona (March 18)
Tallied eight points, eight assists, 10 rebounds and 10 steals against the Colorado, becoming the first player in the history of the women's NCAA Tournament to record a stat line of at least 8 pts, 8 rebs, 8 asts and 8 stls since 2000, as well as the only player to record at least 10 steals and 10 rebounds

2021-22 | AT DUKE

Averaged 11.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.8 steals
ACC Newcomer Watch List selection
Named to preseason watch list for Anne Meyers-Drysdale Award
Started 22-of-23 games played, while missing seven contests due to injury
Led team with 41 steals and ranked eighth in the ACC with a 1.78 per game average
Scored double-digits in five of her final six games on the season
Poured in a season-high 24 points versus Troy to go along with 11 rebounds, six steals and six assists
Notched second consecutive double-double against No. 9 Iowa with 17 points and 13 rebounds
Drained 24 three-pointers during the year
Hit at least one 3-pointer in her final five games of the season, including seven over the last three contests

2020-21 | AT TEXAS

Helped lead Texas to the 2021 NCAA Elite Eight
An All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection
Preseason All-Big 12 Conference honoree.
Averaged 12.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.1 steals – her 2.1 steals average ranked second in the Big 12 while her scoring (12.3) was 21st
Collected 20+ points on four different occasions
Scored double-digits in 20 games
Drained 30 three-pointers on the year
Tied a season-high in the NCAA Tournament second round against UCLA with 24 points as she hit 9-of-17 field goals and hit two treys
Notched three double-doubles against Oklahoma (10 points, 11 boards), Baylor (10 points, 12 rebounds) and Maryland (15 points, 11 rebounds)
Had 15 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and one steal in 40 minutes to help lead Texas to an upset victory against the Terrapins in the NCAA Sweet 16
Drained at least one three-pointer in 15 contests

2019-20 | AT TEXAS

A 2020 Big 12 All-Freshman Team selection
A three-time Big 12 Freshman of the Week honoree and a one-time Big 12 Player of the Week selection
Played in all 30 games with 26 starts, averaging 27.9 minutes per game – the fourth-most minutes on the team
Averaged 9.3 points and 4.8 rebounds
Fourth on the Texas squad in scoring and third in rebounding
Scored in double figures on 14 occasions during the year
Led the Longhorns in three-pointers made with 31
Made a career-high four three-pointers on three different occasions
Third on the team in steals with 42 and fourth in assists with 44
Big 12 Co-Player of the Week and Big 12 Player of the Week on March 2, after helping the Longhorns to wins against No. 25 TCU and Oklahoma. During that span, she averaged 24.5 points per game, a field-goal percentage of 60.7, eight three-pointers made and 36.5 minutes per game
The only Texas player on the season to record back-to-back 20-plus point games
Scored a career-high 27 points with a career-best four three-pointers in 36 minutes in a win against Oklahoma
Turned in her first career double-double in a road win against No. 25 TCU with a then-career-high 22 points, a career-high-tying 10 rebounds and a career-high four three-pointers in a career-best 27 minutes
Reached double figures in scoring for five consecutive games from Nov. 20 to Dec. 1
Brought down a career-high 10 rebounds to go with four points vs. UTSA [Nov. 14]

PREP (LONG ISLAND LUTHERAN)

Ranked the No. 6 overall player in the Class of 2019 by Blue Star
A 2019 McDonald’s All-American, a Jordan Brand Classic participant and the 2018-19 Gatorade New York Girls Basketball Player of the Year
A 2019 WBCA High School All-America Honorable Mention selection
Earned MaxPreps High School All-American Honorable Mention recognition in 2018 and 2019
A two-time USA Today All-New York selection, earning first-team honors in 2019 and second-team accolades in 2018
The New York Newsday Long Island Player of the Year in 2017, 2018 and 2019, earning All-Long Island First Team honors in those years
Named to the New York State Sportswriters Association Class AA First Team in each of her final three seasons of high school
As a senior at Long Island Lutheran in 2018-19, averaged 16.3 points per game, 8.3 rebounds per game and 5.9 assists per game in leading her team to the 2019 New York State Association of Independent Schools Class AA Championship
As a junior in 2017-18, averaged 23.8 points per game, 6.8 rebounds per game and 4.5 steals per game
As a sophomore in 2016-17, helped her team to an 18-4 record and the NYSAIS Class AA Semifinals
Played on her high school’s varsity basketball team since the seventh grade

USA BASKETBALL

Has won three Gold medals with USA Basketball – the 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup, the 2018 FIBA U17 World Cup and the 2017 FIBA Americas U16 Championship.
Saw action in all seven contests with the 2019 USA U19 National Team, averaging 5.0 points and 2.6 rebounds while helping lead the United States to the gold medal in Bangkok, Thailand
Saw action in all seven contests with the 2018 U.S. U17 World Cup Team and averaged 6.1 points and 4.1 rebounds while helping lead the United States to a 7-0 record and the gold medal in Minsk, Belarus
Helped the 2017 United States U16 National Team claim the FIBA Americas U16 Championship gold medal with a 5-0 record in Buenos Aires, Argentina, qualifying the USA for the 2018 FIBA U17 World Cup. Started all five contests and averaged 4.8 points and 3.8 rebounds

PERSONAL