Colombian roots set foundation for Celeste Taylor

Celeste Taylor was in kindergarten when a physical education teacher first noticed her athleticism. Whether racing boys or girls at Marshall Elementary School in Queens, N.Y., little Celeste always finished first. She refused to lose.

The granddaughter of Colombian immigrants loved to compete and win. 

“She has a gift,” Taylor’s mom Selene Navarro remembers the PE teacher saying. “You know what she can do? She surpasses all the boys in her class. And when she runs, she outruns all of them.”

That quickness and athleticism helped Taylor become one of the best players in college basketball and a superb defensive star at Texas, Duke and Ohio State. Now she’s a rookie in the WNBA with the Phoenix Mercury.

Willing to compete

Her competitive fire shone brightly early as well. It wasn’t rare to see 8-year-old Celeste Taylor arguing with referees during Catholic Youth Organization games. One particular game stands out more than a decade later to Alex Navarro, Taylor’s dad.

A then 9-year-old Celeste Taylor was crying after losing a CYO game. As they prepared to leave, another coach approached Navarro to see if Taylor would play in a 14-U game. That coach needed one more player because only four players showed up.

Navarro told the coach that Celeste was only 9. The coach reiterated that she just needed a body to get on the court. Celeste Taylor proved to be more than a body, though. Celeste didn’t score in that game, but she grabbed nine or 10 rebounds, Alex Navarro remembers.

“She was going after every loose ball,” he recalls. “I mean, she was so aggressive. Her team won, and she was like a big part of that win at 9 years old. And after that game I realized that she was a little bit different than the average girl her age.”

A home in Queens

The story of Celeste Taylor cannot be told without first focusing on her roots, especially the bond she shares with her Colombian grandparents, Jaime and Lucy Ospina.

At about the same time when the PE teacher noticed Taylor’s athleticism, Taylor and her parents were living with her maternal grandparents in a three-bedroom apartment in Astoria, Queens. There were nine people living in that apartment, and the sweet memories endure.

Taylor refined her Spanish skills with her abuelos, who immigrated to New York from Colombia. She still smiles widely at the memory of the soundtrack of her youth.

“My grandpa used to always listen to Juanes, so I’d be jamming out to that,” she says. “My aunt would always play cumbias and bachata and try to teach me those dances. At a very early age I was very submerged into the Latino culture.”

Taylor visited her grandparents’ beloved Colombia once as a child. She became fluent enough in Spanish to help translate for non-English speaking classmates in elementary school. Then as a teen playing for a youth Team USA basketball team, she translated for her teammates when they played a tournament in Argentina.

Spanish beat

Taylor doesn’t claim to be a good singer. She learned to carry a tune well, though, during weekly visits to her grandma’s best friend Gloria’s apartment most Friday nights growing up.

“We would go over and everybody played instruments, and we would sing songs,” Taylor says. “We would listen to music. …  It was at a New York City apartment, not super big, but we packed it in there as tight as we could and we just enjoyed it. 

“Those are like key memories for me, like walking to church with my grandma.”

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As she grew up, Taylor became a talented softball and basketball player before eventually focusing on basketball. Almost everything became a competition. If the family was eating out, she would race her dad to the car after dinner. Whether she was dancing, playing softball or basketball, she craved to be the best. She hated to lose.

“I wouldn’t say I’m a sore loser, but I definitely don’t enjoy it,” she says. “But I always keep trying until I win because I know that I can get there. I would say I was just very competitive like I wanted to be the best. … I wanted to be the best at everything that I did because I knew I can.”

Blazing college trail for family

That attitude and willingness to work has paid off. Taylor was the ACC Defensive Player of the Year in 2023 while at Duke. Then she was the 2024 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year after transferring to Ohio State for graduate school.

In 2023 she became the first person in her immediate family to graduate from college, setting an example for her siblings and cousins. She graduated with a degree in child psychology.

“She has a strong mind to be able to be successful,” Selene Navarro says of Celeste Taylor. “I think a lot of it too is because she wants to be able to give us a better life than what we had when we were younger.”

Navarro is proud that her daughter encouraged the Duke coach to let the players visit with fans on the court after games. 

“She majored in child psychology because she wants to help children,” Selene Navarro says of her daughter. “So she’s a very caring person. I know a lot of parents say this about their kids, but she literally would give the coat off her back for someone. She’s very strong, a strong woman and very confident.”

That strength has been tested in the WNBA, where even college All-Americans struggle to stick with clubs. There are several examples of current WNBA stars who were cut by their teams as rookies.

With only 12 teams in the WNBA, it’s difficult for players to stick with teams. Taylor was taken by the Indiana Fever with the 15th overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. She broke camp with the team, but the Fever released her in late June to make room for center Damiris Dantas.

Australia awaits

She was in the gym working out the next day. Taylor signed with the Sydney Flames of Australia’s Women’s National Basketball League on July 11. She was also picked up by the Phoenix Mercury before the WNBA’s All-Star and Olympic break.

Camille Buxeda, the director of women’s basketball at Octagon, is excited to see Taylor develop with the Mercury and eventually in Australia. Buxeda predicts that the Flames’ coaching staff will continue to elevate Taylor’s game defensively and, especially, offensively.

“So it’s gonna be a really great experience for her,” Buxeda said. “I’m really excited to see the type of player she becomes just in the next two years, three years and then the rest of her career. 

“And let me just say, every GM knows it. Every team I’ve spoken to knows it. She has a long career (ahead) in this league because of the type of player she is.”