Covington's Trinity Taylor signs a basketball scholarship with Southwest Tennessee Community College this morning in the CHS library. Also pictured are, from left, front, Terrance Taylor, father; Tonya Taylor, father; back, Tasha Poindexter, assistant coach; and Katrisha Glass, head coach. Photo by Jeff Ireland
When Trinity Taylor joined the Covington Lady Charger basketball team four years ago as a freshman, her hoops skills were raw.
“If you would have told me four years ago that Trinity was going to be sitting here about to play college basketball, I would have said, ‘No way,'” Covington head coach Katrisha Glass said.
She was, however, sitting in the Covington High School library this morning signing basketball scholarship papers for Southwest Tennessee Community College.
Taylor didn’t even want to play basketball when she was younger.
“Actually, my mom made me play basketball in the seventh grade,” said Taylor. “I didn’t want to play at all. Once I got to the ninth grade I realized ‘I kind of like this.’ In the 10th or 11th grade I really knew I loved this sport and it kind of went from there.”
Taylor got some playing time as a freshman and sophomore before making a big leap and becoming a starter and all-district performer during her junior and senior seasons.
Last season she averaged 8.4 points per game (third on the team) and made 33 3-pointers (second on the team). She was known best as a tenacious defender and had 35 steals in 33 games.
“She was raw when i got her, but the thing about Trinity was that you couldn’t outwork her,” Glass said. “She worked on the skills she needed to get better at and she became one of the players I knew I had to have on the court all the time.”
Southwest coach Andrea Martre attended one of Taylor’s games last season, liked what she saw and kept in contact with her throughout the 2019-20 season.
The proximity of Southwest, which is in Memphis, was a factor in Taylor’s decision.
“I didn’t want to leave and go far from home, but it’s enough distance,” Taylor said. “I’ll be close enough to my family if I need them.”
Glass is longtime friends with Trinity’s parents, Tonya and Terrance Taylor, who was a standout basketball player at Covington in the 1990s.
“I’ve known her since she was in diapers and we went to church together,” Glass said. “I couldn’t be more proud of her.”
