Former Ohio State guard Celeste Taylor has made the Indiana Fever’s opening night roster, the franchise announced today.
Taylor, who was selected by the Fever with the 15th overall pick in the second round of the 2024 WNBA Draft on April 15, is one of 13 players and just one of two rookies to make Indiana’s roster. The Fever roster is headlined by former Iowa guard and WNBA first overall pick Caitlin Clark and 2022 first overall selection Aliyah Boston, as well as former Ohio State guard Kelsey Mitchell, the Buckeyes’ all-time leading scorer at 3,402 points.
Taylor earned a spot on Indiana’s roster after making solid contributions in each of her first two preseason games. She went scoreless in her first game against fellow former Ohio State guard Jacy Sheldon and the Dallas Wings on May 3 but added five rebounds in just under 11 minutes of action, and then tacked on six points and one rebound in 14 minutes in the Fever’s final preseason game against the Atlanta Dream on May 9.
“I really was impressed with Celeste,” Fever head coach Christie Sides said after her team’s 83-80 win over the Dream. “She’s learning to be a good defender. I know some of her habits that were at Ohio State are different than how we want to play. So we’ve got to break those habits…She nailed that three — that was great. She’s looking to crash (the glass). And she communicates so well.”
Now, Taylor will have a chance to showcase her skills and earn more playing time for a Fever team that will likely garner significant national attention all season due to the transcendent talent of Clark. Taylor and Clark will make their professional debuts Tuesday night when they travel to Uncasville, Conn., to take on the Connecticut Sun in front of a sold-out Mohegan Sun Arena crowd. The game will tip off at 7:30 p.m. and air on ESPN2.
The game will also be streaming for the first time in WNBA history on Disney+.
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