Nearly 1,500 miles from home, Tristen Taylor has found more than a team in Philadelphia; she’s found a second home and a purpose bigger than basketball.
The third-year point guard was named a Kay Yow Servant Leader for the 2025-26 season, an honor recognizing her selflessness, leadership, and unwavering commitment to her team and the Philadelphia community. The award is named after the legendary basketball coach Kay Yow, who is now a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
“It means a lot knowing that people see me not just on the court, but my character off the court,” Taylor said. “I pride myself in being a great individual all the way around.”
Throughout her three years at Temple, Taylor’s relationship with her teammates and coaches, as well as her leadership skills, has only grown and strengthened. Outside of being the primary floor general for Temple, off the court is where these relationships strengthen.
“Being able to talk to my teammates about different things, each teammate about a different thing, I feel like that is what’s building the chemistry,” Taylor said. “Me growing as a leader and being that person that they can come talk to has grown the chemistry as well.”
Although Taylor was born and raised in Dallas, she has been able to adopt Temple and Philadelphia’s community and culture as a part of her identity. Taylor admires the passion for sports that Philadelphians possess.
Taylor demonstrates her selflessness off the court through giving back to the community.
“We set a goal of 100 community service hours, and she has over 200 hours by herself,” said Women’s Basketball Head Coach Diane Richardson. “She never thinks about herself; she’s always thinking about who she’s there to help, what their needs are, and assess them.”
Committing to a school so far from where you grew up is a tough challenge, yet Temple and their coaches made Taylor feel welcomed from their first Zoom call.
“Temple felt like another family, another home,” Taylor said. “A lot of coaches during the recruiting process were a little baffled with my height [5 feet, 5 inches], but the Temple staff said, ‘We don’t care about your height, we have the confidence that you can lead this team.’”
Taylor continues to grow her game on the court. In December, she posted a career-high 32 points to lead the Owls to the second-largest comeback in NCAA women’s basketball history.
Taylor has one thing left she hopes to achieve during her time at Temple, and that’s winning the conference championship.
“I’ve been here three years, and we haven’t been able to get over that hump yet,” Taylor said. “I want to be able to lead this team to victory.”