Senior ready to replay role as go-to scorer

Last Wednesday's national letter of intent signing ceremony celebrated Theairra Taylor's future while bringing her basketball career full circle.

Taylor, a senior guard at St. Paul Central, will play at the University of Iowa next fall. The school's colors, black and gold, were visible on her Iowa T-shirt, the cake and the balloons. She last donned those colors as a freshman at St. Paul Como Park, where she led the conference in scoring before transferring to Central to join what many consider to be the greatest team ever assembled.

Taylor, a guard, is the ninth Central player to sign with a Division I school in the past eight years, and the only such player on the current roster. Coach Willie Taylor (no relation) said she must regain her role as alpha scorer if the Minutemen hope to challenge for a third consecutive Class 4A state championship.

Her 14.0 points per game ranked second on the team last season, but she was one of four players to average more than 11 per game.

"We're going to ask her to be a ballhog at times this season, and she's never been that type of player," coach Taylor said. "She'll need to take over games for us."

Theairra Taylor spoke with Star Tribune reporter David La Vaque about learning to play with pressure at Central, her role this season and what she expects from her team.

Q Talk about learning to live with expectations here at Central. Everyone assumed your team would win it all two years ago. Last year you had to defend your championship. And this year you have to defend it again.

A It has been exciting. Victory the first time didn't feel as good because we were expected to win. The second one felt better knowing no one really expected it. If we do it this year ...

Q ... They might build a statue of you.

A Yeah [laughs].

Q What did you learn last year about what it takes to defend a championship?

A We knew we would take a small hit because we lost some players, but at the end we knew we were going to pull it out. All the girls were confident.

Q How has your role changed over the years?

A It's actually been a cycle. My freshman season at Como was like what this season will be now. I'm going to take most of the shots; I'm going to be the go-to player. The past two years I had to share the ball more because we had so many great players. It's good to have both experiences because in college, you don't know what role you're going to take on.

Q What do you think the strengths of this team will be?

A Athleticism. We have three or four real athletic girls. If they put the mental part to it, we'll be real good again.

Q Any concerns about having fewer well-known players to work with?

A I think we still have some players here who will step up. They might not get the limelight, but they are solid players.

David La Vaque • 612-673-7574