Celeste Taylor signs seven-day contract with Phoenix Mercury
COLUMBUS — The Phoenix Mercury signed Celeste Taylor to a seven-day contract ahead of its Friday night clash with the Indiana Fever, Taylor’s old team.
After hearing her name called at No. 15 overall in the second round of this year’s WNBA Draft, Taylor played in five games for the Fever this season. The 5-foot-11 guard was teammates with not only No. 1 overall pick Caitlin Clark but also former Ohio State star Kelsey Mitchell, a seventh-year WNBA veteran who ranks first in Buckeyes history with 3,402 career points. Taylor averaged 0.6 points, 0.2 rebounds and 0.2 assists in 3.2 minutes played per outing.
The Fever waived Taylor on June 25 to make space for forward Damiris Dantas, who suffered an MCL injury in her right knee four months ago and has now returned to the court.
Taylor’s well-traveled career takes her west to Phoenix, where the Mercury are currently sixth in the WNBA with a 12-10 record and are winners of three straight.
Notably, Phoenix will be without star Diana Taurasi Friday. The six-time Olympian, 11-time All-Star and two-time WNBA MVP is dealing with a leg injury that will have now kept her out four of the Mercury’s last five games. Phoenix’s Sug Sutton and Charisma Osborne are also out for Friday’s matchup with the Fever.
That means Taylor could get minutes, and she could very well be guarding Clark at points. In addition to defending Clark in practice with the Fever earlier this year, Taylor also defended Clark twice during the 2023-24 season while they were at Ohio State and Iowa, respectively.
Taylor started her college career at Texas. After two seasons in Austin, she made the move to Durham, North Carolina, and played two seasons at Duke. Then she exhausted her eligibility with one final season but as a graduate transfer at Ohio State in Columbus.
She led the Big Ten with 2.5 steals per game last season. She also averaged double-digit points for the fourth time in her career, posting 10.1 points per game, not to mention her career-high 3.4 assists per contest as well as 4.1 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per outing. She shot a career-best 40.9% from the field and tied for the second-most 3-pointers on the team with 40.
Taylor earned an opening night roster spot with the Fever after a strong finish to the preseason, during which he she played a role in a comeback win over the Atlanta Dream. But Taylor hardly got an opportunity to impress once the season got rolling.
Now she’s getting a chance with the Mercury.
This news comes on the heels of Taylor signing a one-year deal with the Sydney Flames of the WNBL, the premier professional basketball league in Australia. The WNBL regular season starts in late fall and runs through the end of February. A handful of WNBA players also play in the WNBL.
Taylor has shown throughout her career that she doesn’t mind moving around to make her mark. She’s continuing to do so as a pro.
