While many professional athletes transition to coaching after their playing career, former Phoenix Mercury guard Celeste Taylor is starting her coaching career after her rookie season.
After playing in her first season in the WNBA, Taylor has joined GCU women’s basketball as an assistant coach due to an injury that will keep her out of the 2025 WNBA season.
“When the opportunity presented itself, it honestly worked out perfectly with timing and everything,” Taylor told ESPN. “Once I had explained to [Winston Gandy/GCU women’s head coach] what the situation is, of wanting to get healthy but also wanting to follow in this path of being a coach and having the opportunity of giving back to younger kids and being in that leadership role and just continuing to pour into student-athletes and give them the best experience, it’s a no-brainer to take it.”
From collegiate star ⭐️ to 15th overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, @_celeste620 has joined the coaching staff ? pic.twitter.com/mRZ2jl52uX
— GCU Women's Basketball (@GCU_WBB) June 3, 2025
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Taylor has been dealing with a foot injury that she sustained while playing for the Sydney Flames in the WNBL, a league that occurs during the WNBA offseason. She had attempted to work her way back to full health with the Mercury for training camp but was ultimately waived prior to the regular season. Taylor plans to spend the season recovering from her injury but hopes to return to the WNBA in 2026.
Taylor had a unique rookie season, splitting her time between three different WNBA teams.
The Indiana Fever selected her No. 15 in the 2024 draft where she managed to only play in three games before signing with the Connecticut Sun on a seven-day contract, playing in two games.
She then made waves by playing for two separate franchises — Connecticut and Phoenix — on back-to-back days while being on seven-day contracts. She ended up spending the majority of her rookie campaign with the Phoenix Mercury (15 games) where she averaged 3.5 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.0 steal in 20.1 minutes per game.
At Grand Canyon, Taylor is joining forces with her former college assistant coach at Duke, Winston Gandy, who is taking over as head coach at GCU after Molly Miller left to be women’s head coach at Arizona State.
Gandy, who had served on the staffs of Dawn Staley at South Carolina and Kara Lawson in Durham, will hope that Taylor’s presence and pro mindset can help the GCU players reach their full potential and replicate last season’s success.
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