Excerpt from the Dayton Daily News
She just shook her head and laughed at the question.
“No, I didn’t play with dolls growing up. I just had no interest in them,” said Wright State senior guard Mackenzie Taylor. “I only had two in my whole life. They bought me one Barbie and I just destroyed it. They got me another and I kept it in the box and donated it to Toys for Tots the next year.
“Really, I don’t remember playing with toys as a kid, or watching TV either. People will say, ‘Don’t you remember that show from your childhood?’ and I say, ‘No.’ I didn’t watch any of the princess movies, none of that.
“I was always outside, playing sports.”
When she was just three she said she pleaded so much to be able play soccer like her older brother was that her dad finally went to the coaches and convinced them to waive the minimum age requirement and let her join the other four and five year olds.
Her real passion, though, was basketball and eventually she became a star at Richmond High School in Indiana, where she became the Red Devils No. 3 all-time scorer with 1,664 points.
More than just a stage where she could show her athletic prowess, the basketball court became a place for her to escape the tension in her family life.
Her parents divorced when she was young and a nasty, five-year custody battle followed. After that the tension still remained and she and her brother often were caught in the middle of it.
On the court, she not only got away from that, but she found her games were the one place all sides of her family, even if they sat on opposite ends of the gym and did not speak to each other — could agree on one thing.
They all cheered for her.
