Taylor Koenen’s road to the WNBA goes through Europe
The 2016 edition of the Minnesota Fury was a special group. Led by University of St. Thomas coach Ruth Sinn, the team included a number of very talented athletes who went on to play at the highest levels of collegiate basketball, including Rae Johnson (Iowa State), Jamie Ruden (Arizona State) and Madison McKeever (South Dakota). Perhaps the most-accomplished player of the group is Taylor Koenen of Shakopee, who was ranked #1 in that year’s graduating class. After a distinguished career at the University of North Carolina, Taylor is about to embark on her second season of professional basketball in Europe.
Koenen is coming off a spectacular rookie year with BCF Elfic Fribourg of Switzerland, which made a big splash in EuroCup play and finished the year with a record of 37-2. Taylor recorded 653 points, 316 rebounds, 128 assists, 101 steals, and 47 blocks. “We went undefeated in Switzerland and won everything you could win in the Swiss league,” she said when we talked over the weekend. “We made it to the Elite 8 in EuroCup. No team from Switzerland had ever made it that far. It was an amazing experience.”
Koenen and her fellow import Aislinn Koenig of Canada, who played at North Carolina State, were both first-year professionals but they performed at a high level against a long list of seasoned veterans. Along the way they faced a number of WNBA players, including former Minnesota Lynx standouts Natasha Howard and Temi Fagbenle, Indiana Fever guard Tiffany Mitchell and New York Liberty forward Betnijah Laney. Fribourg was eventually eliminated by Carolo Basket of France, whose lineup includes former WNBA players Yvonne Turner and Evelyn Akhator. Although competing for a high-major program at UNC was excellent preparation, playing in Europe was another level altogether.
“It’s kind of like when you go to college,” Koenen explained. “That’s a step up in terms of physicality and the pace of the game. When you go overseas it’s another step up again. The physicality really increases. Everything is just faster. You have to get your shot off faster. You have to have a little bit better handles. It was just another level.”
A year to remember
Although the club provides import players like Koenen a nice salary, an apartment and transportation, the training schedule in Europe can be a grind. Taylor had two-hour morning workouts every day that consisted of lifting weights, shooting drills and individual skill work. Every evening there was a two-hour practice. The team had one day off each week. “Thursday was our day to kind of rest and recover and go sightseeing,” Koenen said. “Switzerland is a beautiful country and we were able to see a lot of amazing things. I was in a very good situation to say the least compared to a lot of the other players I know.”
The primary focus for Koenen was on growing her game. After getting off to a slow start during her freshman year in Chapel Hill, Koenen persevered and her college career took off. The 6’2 guard started every game in her last three years for North Carolina, finishing her four years with more than 1,200 points, 800 rebounds and 300 assists. Having earned a business degree, Taylor is now focused only on her sport.
“My overall play has just continued to get better,” she said. “When you can dedicate all of your time to getting better, eating the right things and doing the correct things for your body, you kind of figure out what you need to perform at your best. I used to have homework to do, or I had to go to class, so it has been amazing to just kind of find my groove and do what I need to do every day, to work on the things that I need to work on. It has been huge for me.”
Aiming for the WNBA
Koenen is preparing now to take the next step up. Her play in Switzerland led to new opportunities to compete in a higher league for a bigger paycheck and more exposure. This winter she’ll suit up for Baxi Ferrol in Spain. Located 370 miles northwest of Madrid on the Atlantic Ocean, Ferrol is a city of about 65,000. There she’ll join 2019 Michigan State grad Jenna Allen. “I’ll be living about 15 minutes from the beach so that will be nice,” Koenen said. Although it will still be in the mid-50s in January, I suspect there won’t be a whole lot of time for recreation as Koenen keeps her eye on the bigger prize.
“Seeing the world is obviously fun for now but my ultimate goal is to play in the WNBA,” said the former Gatorade Minnesota Player of the Year. “My plan is for that to happen next year. I was invited to several WNBA training camps this year but I couldn’t get out of my Swiss contract. I have worked that out with my team in Spain and it won’t be an issue now.”
Since returning from Europe, Koenen has been splitting her time between the Twin Cities and North Carolina, where she is training for the upcoming season. Koenen will be back in Minnesota in a couple of weeks for the first TK1 Basketball Camp for girls August 11-12 at Shakopee High School, where she rewrote the record books while earning 15 varsity letters in three sports. The camp will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day and is open to players of all ability levels. Aug. 11 will be for kids in grades 4 through 7. Aug. 12 is for grades 8-12. “I am super excited about it,” Koenen said. “I just wanted to give back to the game that has given me so much.”
For more information please email Camps.TK1@gmail.com or click the link below to go directly to the registration form.
