The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Women's Basketball signee Taylor named New York Gatorade Player of the Year
03.08.2019 | Women's Basketball
Celeste Taylor is the nation's No. 20 overall prospect.
Texas women's basketball signee Celeste Taylor on Friday was named the 2018-19 Gatorade New York Girls Basketball Player of the Year.
Taylor is a 5-foot-11 guard from Long Island Lutheran High School and is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year Award, which will be announced in March. Taylor will also participate in the prestigious McDonald's All-American Game.
She is the No. 20 overall player and the No. 7 guard in the class of 2019, according to espnW Hoop Gurlz. As a senior, she is averaging 16.3 points per game, 8.3 rebounds per game, 5.9 assists per game and 4.0 steals per game. She is a three-time All-State honoree and is a three-time Long Island Player of the Year. Taylor also plays for the EYBL Philadelphia Belles and has been part of two United States national teams.
Taylor played on the 2018 USA U17 World Cup team that captured gold with a 7-0 record in Belarus. She averaged 6.1 points per game and 4.1 rebounds per game.
As a junior at Long Island Lutheran in 2017-18, Taylor averaged 23.8 points per game, 6.8 rebounds per game and 4.5 steals per game. The New York Newsday Long Island Player of the Year, Taylor was a 2018 MaxPreps High School All-America honorable mention selection. She was an All-New York State first team member and was named to USA Today's All-New York second team.
In both 2017 and 2018, Taylor was a New York State Sportswriters Association Class AA first-team selection and also earned recognition on the New York Newsday All-Long Island first team.
In the summer of 2017, Taylor helped the United States U16 National Team claim the FIBA Americas U16 Champion-ship gold medal with a 5-0 record in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which qualified the US for the 2018 FIBA U17 World Cup. She averaged 4.8 points per game and 3.8 rebounds per game, starting all five contests.
As a sophomore at Long Island Lutheran in 2016-17, Taylor averaged 15.9 points per game to help her team to an 18-4 record and the state federation Class AA semifinals.
