Ohio State added transfer Celeste Taylor to a well-stocked team in a stacked-again Big Ten

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The ideal approach to sustained success for Ohio State, in coach Kevin McGuff’s mind, revolves around recruiting players straight from high school and developing them over four or five seasons.

“We have a system that I like. They tend to get better and better each year,” McGuff said. “But we have used the transfer portal to our benefit, obviously, just to kind of fill in some holes.”

The well-timed and carefully chosen addition to the roster can go a long way to complement or even carry a team, and in this dizzying era of the portal there aren’t many high-level programs these days that don’t at least dip into the pool to pick up an experienced transfer.

The Buckeyes reeled in a big one this year with Celeste Taylor.

“She’s brought a level of maturity and experience that I think is going to be really beneficial,” McGuff said at Big Ten women’s basketball media day at Target Center in Minneapolis, where the conference tournament will be staged for the second straight season. “She’s an incredible defender. I think our press has got a chance to be even more effective this year with her in that.”

Taylor brings the potential to be the conference’s biggest impact newcomer after she spent the last two years at Duke and her first two college seasons at Texas.

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“I tried to recruit her three times, so we finally got her,” McGuff said. “She’ll be great for us on the defensive end. We have a little bit different offensive system than she’s played in before, so I think she’ll have more of an opportunity to showcase her skill set.”

Taylor won the ACC Defensive Player of the Year award last season and also led the Blue Devils in scoring. She had a rebounds-steals double-double in Duke’s overtime loss to Colorado in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

“It was all about if they had the space and if they needed that extra player, but the winning culture, the style of play, the girls, just the success of the program overall the last two years is definitely what drew me in,” Taylor said.

The Buckeyes have already posted a five-star review of their transfer portal experience with Taylor Mikesell, who arrived in 2021 via Oregon and Maryland. The two-time first team All-Big Ten pick and WNBA draft pick led Ohio State in scoring last season.

There’s plenty of returning firepower to fill in, starting with Cotie McMahon, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year last season. Jacy Sheldon and Taylor Thierry each averaged 13-plus points per game in 2022-23. Rikki Harris brings back her all-over-the-floor energy. Madison Greene is recovering from a knee injury and on track to rejoin the lineup by the end of November.

After reaching the regional finals for the first time in 30 years, the Buckeyes might well be the stiffest competition for defending Big Ten tournament champion and national runner-up Iowa, the consensus favorite to win the conference.

Ohio State was picked to finish second in the coaches’ poll and third behind Indiana in the media poll. ESPN’s national preseason rankings pegged the Buckeyes fourth, the highest of any Big Ten team. The Athletic ranked them seventh, one spot below the Hawkeyes.

The Buckeyes ought to be plenty ready for the Big Ten grind. They open the season in Las Vegas on Nov. 6 against USC, which will join the conference along with three other Pac-12 defectors next year. Ohio State also faces Oklahoma State, Tennessee and UCLA in nonconference play. Then there’s this postseason tuneup for the Buckeyes: home games against Maryland and Michigan, followed by a trip to Iowa on March 3 to close their conference schedule.

Guess where the Final Four will be played this season? Yes, in Ohio. The Buckeyes would love nothing more than to be playing in Cleveland next April.

“We’re going to work as hard as we can to get there,” Sheldon said.

Maryland also has a prized newcomer with forward Jakia Brown-Turner, whose transfer from North Carolina State will help offset the departure of WNBA first round draft picks Diamond Miller and Abby Meyers. Brown-Turner is a Maryland native who was a four-year starter for the Wolfpack.

Indiana has star center Mackenzie Holmes back. Michigan ought to be a handful again. The middle of this loaded league is no slouch, either.

“That’s what helps the game forward, when there are really great battles, when there’s a lot of great teams. It can’t just be one end-all, be-all team. It needs to be multiple teams on the same level,” Iowa star Caitlin Clark said. “You want to talk about who’s the best team. You want to talk about who’s going to win the Big Ten. You want to talk about who’s the best player. Those are the kind of conversations that spark interest in our game.”

McGuff revealed that he lost 40 pounds through regular exercise and intermittent fasting, recalling how discouraged he was the morning of preseason media day last year when he put on his tie and couldn’t button his shirt around his neck.

“I feel a lot better. I’ve got a lot more energy. The key now is to keep it up right?” McGuff said, realizing the fun, long road ahead. “I need to be in fighting shape.”

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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll