Celeste Taylor

Celeste Yvonne Taylor (born June 20, 2001) is an American professional basketball player who is currently a free agent. She previously played for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball at Texas, Duke, and Ohio State.

Taylor is from Queens, New York and is the granddaughter of Colombian immigrants. She grew up living with her maternal grandparents in a three-bedroom apartment in Astoria, Queens, where a total of nine people lived. Taylor became fluent in Spanish and visited Colombia once as a child. Her athleticism was already noticed in elementary school, and in addition to basketball, she was a talented softball player.

Taylor played varsity basketball for Valley Stream South High School in Valley Stream, New York in seventh grade. One year later, she transferred Long Island Lutheran Middle and High School in Brookville, New York, where she became a starter as a freshman. As a senior, Taylor was named New York Gatorade Player of the Year. She was selected to play in the McDonald's All-American Game and Jordan Brand Classic. Taylor was named Newsday Long Island Player of the Year in her final two years. Rated a five-star recruit by ESPN, she committed to playing college basketball for Texas over offers from Stanford, Notre Dame, Ohio State and South Carolina, among other programs.

As a freshman at Texas, Taylor averaged 9.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, leading the team with 31 three-pointers. She was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team. She averaged 12.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game as a sophomore, earning All-Big 12 honorable mention. For her junior season, Taylor transferred to Duke and averaged 11 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. In her senior season, Taylor was named Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Defensive Player of the Year and first-team All-ACC, while averaging 11.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.2 steals per game. She set a program single-game record with 10 steals in a second-round loss to Colorado at the 2023 NCAA tournament. Taylor transferred to Ohio State for her fifth season.

On April 15, 2024, Taylor was selected in the second round as the fifteenth overall pick of the 2024 WNBA draft by the Indiana Fever. She made the roster and played in five games for the Fever before being waived on June 25, 2024.

On July 12, 2024, Taylor signed a seven-day contract with the Phoenix Mercury.

On August 16, 2024, Taylor signed a seven-day contract with the Connecticut Sun.

After two games with Connecticut, Taylor signed a second seven-day contract with the Mercury on August 23, 2024. A week later, she signed a third seven-day contract and eventually secured a rest-of-season contract with the team. During her two stints with Phoenix, Taylor was a valuable part of the rotation, playing in 15 regular-season games, starting 4 of them, and averaging 20 minutes per game. On January 22, 2025, the Mercury and Celeste Taylor agreed to a one-year, non-guaranteed training camp contract deal. She was cut after training camp, and did not make the opening day roster.