Mississippi State Women's Basketball Standout Myah Taylor Enters Transfer Portal

Taylor announced her decision to enter the portal on Wednesday afternoon.

After spending five years with the Mississippi State women's basketball program, graduate senior Myah Taylor will be taking her talents elsewhere.

The guard announced on Wednesday afternoon that she will be entering the transfer portal and spending her final year of eligibility elsewhere. The news did not come as a complete shock for fans, teammates and coaches: Taylor expressed interest in transferring near the end of the 2021-2022 season.

Taylor came to Mississippi State as a freshman from Olive Branch High School in Olive Branch, Mississippi. As the top prospect in the state, she won the Mississippi Gatorade Player of the Year award three times in her high school career and was also an All-American nominee. 

The 5-foot-7 student-athlete first saw playing time as a redshirt freshman in the 2017-2018 season. Taylor started her career in maroon and white against Southeastern Missouri when she scored seven points and had six assists. She was talented coming off the bench and averaged 3.0 points and 1.7 assists through 11.2 minutes of action per game. 

Taylor made a huge jump as a redshirt sophomore. Her average minutes played per game doubled to 25.2 and she started in 33 games. She had incredible court vision and averaged 4.6 assists per game while scoring roughly 5.6 points in each game. In fact, Taylor led the entire SEC and placed eighth in the nation with a 2.80 assist to turnover ratio. Taylor was also an aggressive defender-- she had a career-high 84 personal fouls and even fouled out in four games. 

During her 2020-2021 redshirt junior season, Taylor served as both a talented player and a leader on the team in the wake of long-time head coach Vic Schaefer's departure. Taylor started each of the 19 games she played in and averaged 9.9 points, 3.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. Her 2.36 assist to turnover ratio ranked fourth in the SEC. 

This year, Taylor was one of the best players on the team and continued to start in each game she played. The senior averaged a collegiate career and team-best 5.5 assists per game and totaled 159 for the entire year. Taylor had 233 points through 29 games played-- an average of 8.0 per game-- and contributed in big ways with nine blocks. 

Taylor's future remains unclear, but she will certainly have plenty of teams vying for her attention. Although she would have been a valuable asset under new head coach Sam Purcell, she will work to become a core member of whichever team she joins next. 

Thank you, HailState! pic.twitter.com/evPvowflOQ

— муαнтαуℓσя (@myah_taylor) March 30, 2022