Getting to know Taylor Jones

The basketball world is filled with young and gifted female athletes who have been steady on their path to becoming a GOAT, a path forged by the strong that are on top today. I’m proud we are finally taking women in sports more seriously. As more women continue to break barriers and show the world their importance in the games we love to watch, I’m hoping to extend those highlights more into basketball.

I’m pretty sure we have all heard of the beautiful Taylor Jones, A Senior at Oakland University. She’s a guard for the Golden Grizzlies basketball team. I had the pleasure of meeting and talking to Miss Jones, so let me introduce; for those who are still a bit behind.

She is a tough two-way guard who dominates the court and could easily score her team a triple-double on any given night. As she delivers on and off the court, excelling as a Student-Athlete with graduation not too far away, she was able to focus on her basketball career and as a student with her scholarship. Not having to pay for her college education was one of her biggest accomplishments.

Taylor is also family oriented and has a very close, respectful bond with her mother. She is the youngest of 4 siblings. When asked what motivates her to go out and accomplish everything she has or will accomplish, she simply says, “I do it for my family.” She is determined to take care of them. Taylor has dreams of buying her mother a house one day and that is what drives her. Her mother is her biggest inspiration, she admires her mother for her strength and her ability to work hard.

She also went on to say how her mother managed to raise her and her siblings alone after her mother and father separated. Seeing her mother’s strength made her realize that she can accomplish anything, and that’s where she gets her work ethic from.

While her mom may be her main inspiration, she mentioned she has one other person she admires, Miss Maya Moore. When asked why, she said, “I respect her for taking time off to spend with her family, and for her taking time off for her religious growth.” Taylor is big on spending time with her family and her religious beliefs, so hearing Maya’s decision helped her find balance.

Taylor works extremely hard on her game. She puts in the hours, even after practice. Her game is very strong and her aggression matches it. She doesn’t like to compare herself to other players, but if she was to compare herself to any athlete it would be Russell Westbrook and I couldn’t agree more.

This year, her focus was to become an all-around better player. She wanted to improve on her offensive and defensive rebounding and Jones did. She also achieved a double-double-6, most of them were assists and rebounds.

Being a young female athlete Taylor understands that she has young girls looking up to her. So she is big on carrying herself with respect and dignity. With that responsibility, she just wants to be that person kids can look up to and see her being herself and that will give them the confidence to walk and be comfortable in their own skin. She is very outspoken and will lend and opening ear for any young athlete who is looking for advice or just wants to talk and needs someone to listen.

Her final college season and college life is coming to a close. Taylor is preparing to walk across the stage, which she will be the first to do so out of her other siblings. When asked how does she feel about it, she said, “I think it’s a blessing. Not many people are able to do what I did in a four-year span.” Taylor made it very clear that she is ready for what life has in store for her next and is ready to face whatever challenges headed her way.

Taylor has been getting ready for her WNBA combine and her overseas training which will start April 7th. That will be held in Tampa Bay, Florida, followed by another training May 17-20th in Chicago, Illinois. After that, she will be heading to Peru in July to play with the US Virgin Island women’s team. Her schedule is very busy and summer is already booked. I asked her with everything that’s going on, how does she stay focused? Her response was, “people see me out all the time and tell me to keep putting on for the city, and stuff like that keeps me motivated and focused. I love the support.” You don’t see a lot of female athletes come out of Detroit, MI so that alone keeps her motivated. “But when it’s all said and done, I just want to look back on my life and say to myself, I really made it,” Taylor says.

Her best performance was against Detroit Renaissance, scoring 37 points and having five assists.

Featured Image – Taylor Jones (10) Oakland basketball. Photo Credit The Oakland Press.