April 29, 2021
Taylor Mikesell transferring to Ohio State
By Zack Ward
Sharpshooter's college basketball journey has taken her to Maryland, Oregon, and now back home
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Taylor Mikesell is headed home.
The rising senior from Massillon, Ohio will play her final collegiate season with the Ohio State Buckeyes after two years at Maryland and a year at Oregon.
Under the new transfer rule, Mikesell will be immediately eligible for Kevin McGuff’s squad. She is capable of being a prolific 3-point shooter and at her best could make a huge difference for an Ohio State team that recently lost star player Dorka Juhász via transfer to UConn.
Mikesell’s numbers dropped as a junior with the Ducks, but she was on track for great things before she left Maryland. She most notably left her mark in the storied history of Terrapin sharpshooters with 95 triples as a freshman. That’s more than any other freshmen in Maryland men’s or women’s basketball history. She was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year after averaging 13.4 points and 3.3 assists per game.
As a sophomore in 2019-20, Mikesell’s minutes per game decreased from 34.7 to 29.8, and her scoring, rebounding, and assist numbers all went down a bit. However, she was still a key player for Maryland who started in 32 games and made 90 threes at an even higher clip (42.5 percent) than her freshman campaign (41.1). Maryland came on strong at the end of the regular season, won the Big Ten Tournament, and likely would have ended up with a 1-seed if there had been an NCAA Tournament.
It came as surprise when Mikesell chose to transfer away from a Maryland program that had shown so much promise and was about to return Freshman of the Year Ashley Owusu and bring in No. 2 HoopGurlz recruit Angel Reese. She opted to play at Oregon instead, a school that brought in five Top 22 prospects but struggled to find its identity without graduated star Sabrina Ionescu in 2020-21.
Mikesell’s scoring, rebounding, and assist numbers all dipped slightly again and she shot just 33.3 percent from distance with 39 makes at Oregon. The Ducks were thought to be a weak 6-seed with one of their stars in Te-Hina Paopao out with an injury, but Mikesell was able to make her way to the Sweet 16 for the first time as the team upset 3-seed Georgia in the Round of 32.
Now, Mikesell is in for another change, this time deciding to play in an area that already means a lot to her. She will now face the Terps as a member of a Big Ten foe.
Ohio State was not eligible for postseason play in 2020-21 due to a self-imposed ban but went 13-7 overall and 9-7 in the Big Ten with one of their wins being one of just three losses for Maryland.
It was the Buckeyes who lost to Maryland in the Big Ten Tournament championship game in 2020. Perhaps Mikesell, now on the other side of that matchup, can help her home state school give the Terps some more problems.
