Sydney Taylor has been playing basketball since she was 7 years-old. When Taylor was younger, she was a lot shorter than her current height of 5′9, and she grew up surrounded by people who doubted her abilities. Although Taylor is currently a junior starting guard for the Minutewomen at UMass Amherst, getting to that level of play as a Division 1 college athlete was not that easy.
Born into an athletic family from Long Island, New York, Taylor was encouraged to play multiple sports as a kid. Taylor comes from a family of five, all of whom played sports growing up. Taylor’s mother, Sheri, ran track in high school and college, and her father, Don, played baseball.
Before playing in college, Taylor played AAU, club basketball, and high school basketball. Taylor attended Saint Anthony’s for high school which consisted of 2,500 students.
Sports were competitive at Taylor’s high school, and most student athletes aspired to play Division I in college. When Taylor was a freshman in high school, many seniors on her team had already committed to D1 schools, which motivated her to work towards that same dream. Hugh Flaherty, Taylor’s high school basketball coach for four years, said that “her continuous hard work is what stood out. As a sophomore, I started playing her a lot more, and she really took on that role.”
“My high school was huge,” Taylor said. In this environment, Taylor dealt with a lot of criticism from other parents along with other players.
“Having to grow up in an environment where people are always judging you and always having something to say, it’s a hard environment to grow up in,” Sheri Taylor said.
The negativity and adversity Taylor faced as a young player motivated her the most to make it to the next level. And, as an upperclassman in high school, she began to get college offers which led her to UMass .
But the doubt did not stop once she made it to Amherst.
During her freshman year at UMass, Taylor did not play much. There were times when she questioned things, even questioning why she was on the team.
“My coach would be like, ‘your time is coming,’ which kind of messed with my confidence. I would come to practice with a negative attitude freshman year, because I knew I wasn’t going to be playing.”
Over time though, Taylor worked through it, knowing that her time was coming.
“Sydney had a huge jump freshman to sophomore year, and I think in the off-season and over the course of the summer she really worked at her game,” Tory Verdi, the UMass women’s basketball head coach said.
“Sydney is a big, strong guard who can score in bunches. She can handle in transition and attack the rim or pull up and shoot it from deep. Having another big scoring threat provides us with more balance amongst all positions.”
Since high school, Taylor’s parents have been her biggest support system. Her parents live three and a half hours away from UMass, but try to make as many games as they can to show their support. Her relationship with her mom and dad is “pretty equal,” however she says that her mom is her biggest supporter.
“Last year, she bought a jersey, and even bought a jersey for my dog,” Taylor said.
Sheri Taylor refers to her daughter as “gifted and exceptional.” People always had an opinion on Taylor’s game growing up. “She’s had to take on a lot from a young age because of her gift, but it’s not always a good thing when you have people who are coaching her from the side, not exactly trying to help her grow,” Sheri said.
Flaherty went to see Taylor play against Saint John during her freshman year, and she did not play in the game. At the time, she was playing behind another talented guard on the team. Flaherty texted her after the game, telling her that she could not be down.
“You have to be a rah-rah player. You gotta be ‘aye, okay, great job to the team,” Flaherty said. “And she understood it. She proved herself during her sophomore year.”
When she came home for breaks during her freshman year, Taylor asked Flaherty if she could use the high school gym to shoot around and practice her skills. Taylor said that she worked extremely hard during that off season because she knew she had a chance to start sophomore year.
“I did that, and I earned my spot on the starting five,” Taylor said.
So why UMass?
“Because I went to a big high school, I knew for college I wanted to go to a big school as well.” Taylor found the best balance of academics and athletics at UMass. She loved the people, the team, the academics, and the amazing facilities.
Taylor was able to break out of her shell on the UMass team.
Taylor’s mother observes that Taylor has gained confidence, and she attributes this new-found confidence to “the wonderful girls on the team.” One of those girls, Taylor’s roommate, teammate, and close friend, Destiney Philoxy, said that Taylor is one of the most hardworking people she knows. Philoxy is a year ahead of Taylor, and was a sophomore on the team when Taylor came on as a freshman. “I have watched her change and grow as a player and as a person over the past few years. Once she puts her mind to something, she gets it done whether in basketball or in life in general.” Philoxy also said that Taylor’s confidence in herself and in her game has grown tremendously since she first started playing for UMass.
Still, her mother notes that Taylor has “definitely had a broken spirit sometimes,” but she feels “that [her] role as [Taylor’s] supporter is to make sure that she has a way back to mending her heart, and that there is always another outlook.”
College has clearly provided that other outlook for Taylor. During her sophomore year, Taylor started in all 24 games, averaged 34.3 minutes per game, and scored a career-high of 27 points against Davidson.
Now, Taylor is a junior and knows that her time has come. So far this season, Taylor averages 15.9 points per game, and has made 34 3-pointers. Taylor also averages 34.2 minutes per game, and had a season high of 26 points against Providence College.
“I grew as a person and as a player over the last two years, and I have proved myself,” Taylor said. Taylor remains on the starting lineup, and has become a key asset to the team.
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